Miller, Rosenberry lead James Wood to softball win over Clarke County

By JERRY HOLSWORTH | Special to The Winchester Star

Apr 10, 2018

WINCHESTER — Despite near-freezing conditions James Wood’s softball team was anything but frigid on Monday, compiling 14 hits — including six for extra bases — to dominate Clarke County 9-1 Monday.

“This was just a huge team win,” Colonels coach Todd Baker said. “Everybody got in and everybody contributed. We needed this kind of win too. We’ve dropped a couple in a row, and we needed to get some excitement back, especially at home.”

Although every Colonel batter was impressive, leadoff hitter Olivia Miller stood out. The Wood freshman went 4 for 4 with three doubles and two RBIs. She also scored all four times she was at-bat.

“Olivia really came through today,” Baker said. “She’s really stepped up her game and that’s good to see.”

While the Colonels (5-2) were amassing runs, Wood starting pitcher Ivy Rosenberry was stifling the Eagle bats. The Colonel sophomore gave up just one run on seven hits and struck out 12 Eagles (5-2), including back-to-back strikeouts in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and just one out to keep Clarke County off the scoreboard.

“It was a little cold out there, but we’re beginning to get used to it,” Rosenberry said. “I got a lot of run support today, and we got it from the entire lineup. All of the girls really hit the ball well. It really helps when a player like Olivia comes in and really gets things going.”

Baker said Rosenberry did a great job of making sure Clarke didn’t answer James Wood’s offensive attack.

“Ivy pitched very well today,” Baker said. “It’s hard to go seven innings against a team like Clarke County. She made some great pitches in the sixth and seventh innings to get us out of a couple of jams.”

It didn’t take Wood long to establish its dominance. Miller led off the first with a bunt single. She later scored on a wild pitch from third to give the Colonels a 1-0 lead.

Wood expanded its lead in the second to 3-0. Colonel shortstop Haley Kaiser got things started with a leadoff triple to right, then scored on a double to left-center by Miller. Rosenberry followed with a double to left-center that scored Miller.

Kaiser got Wood going again in the third with a leadoff single to right. Miller drove her home with her second double of the game. Rosenberry walked. Lindsey Anderson’s single scored Miller. Abigail Brannon, who ran for Rosenberry, scored when Rebecca Boone advanced on an Eagle error.

With the Colonels leading 6-0, Clarke County finally got on the scoreboard in the fifth when Megan Hicks scored Dana Ramey with a single to center field.

The Eagles looked like they were going score more runs in the fifth but with the bases loaded, Rosenberry got the final out by getting a Clarke County batter to pop out to first.

Wood added another three runs in the sixth to make it 9-1, thanks to a pair of doubles by Miller and Anderson, and a single by Boone. Miller led off the inning with a double then scored on Anderson’s two-bagger. Boone drove in Rosenberry then scored on a single by Kaiser.

Hicks took the loss for the Eagles, allowing six runs on 14 hits through 5 1/3 innings on the rubber. She struck out six and walked just two Wood batters.

“Rosenberry really brought the heat today,” Grubbs said. “Honestly, we haven’t seen that kind of heat this season. We need to get to work on that, but a game like this will always help us down the road.”

Rosenberry said the Colonels definitely faced a quality opponent.

“It felt good to beat Clarke County,” Rosenberry said. “They always have a really good team, and today was no exception.”

Miller said it was a great all-around effort for the Colonels.

“I thought things went really well,” Miller said. “I thought everyone stepped up and hit the ball really well.

“I really love playing for this team. We really support each other out there.”

Also for James Wood, Anderson went 3 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs, and Kaiser was 3 for 3 with an RBI.