Sherando rallies in seventh for softball win over James Wood

By JERRY HOLSWORTH | Special to The Winchester Star May 1, 2018

STEPHENS CITY — It was a classic finish in what has become the area’s most intense softball rivalry.

With the score tied at five, James Wood relief pitcher Lani Spielman dealt a 3-2 pitch to Lauren Smith with two outs and the bases loaded.

Smith didn’t crush a homer, but her dying quail to shallow left-center sailed just inches over Colonel shortstop Haley Kaiser’s glove to give Sherando a stunning 6-5 come-from behind win over the Colonels.

The nail-biting finish is nothing new for the rivalry. Over the last 10 games, the collective margin of victory in those games adds up to just 11 runs. The two teams met earlier this season at Ridge Field with Sherando also rallying in the seventh for a 6-5 victory.

This time, the Warriors trailed 4-0 after four innings and 5-1 after five frames.

“It’s always tough when you play Sherando,” Colonels coach Todd Baker said. “We jumped out with a pretty big lead, but they just made it happen. They just kept chipping away at us. You have to take your hat off them with an effort like that.”

With her team trailing 4-0, Sierra Strosnider led off the fourth with a solo homer.

Down 5-1 an inning later, Blake Conner led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk. A double by Tori Seymour sent Conner to third and Korenn Paige laced a two-run double to narrow the deficit to 5-3. Paige then scored on a double by Strosnider to put Sherando just one run away from tying Wood.

Paige plated the tying run in the bottom of the seventh on a double to right-center field that scored Conner, who led off the inning with a single to right.

“Paige has been in our program for four years and we knew she would come through when the game was on the line,” Sherando coach Clarence Smith said.

The Colonels seemingly had the game in control early.

In the first inning, Spielman plated Olivia Miller with a sacrifice fly to center by Spielman.

The Colonels then extended the margin to four runs, thanks to a Sherando error and a two-run single to right by starting pitcher Ivy Rosenberry.

Rosenberry’s performance in the circle had been dominating until Strosnider’s homer. In the first three innings, she struck out six Warrior batters, allowing just two hits and no runs.

Smith got the win giving up five runs on five hits in a complete game. She struck out four and walked four. She retired James Wood out in order in both the sixth and seventh inning.

“Wood put pressure on us constantly today,” Sherando coach Clarence Smith said. “To Lauren’s credit she made the pitches when she needed to.”

Spielman look the loss in relief, allowing two runs on three hits after taking over in the sixth.