James Wood hitters sizzling in softball rout of Sherando

STEPHENSON — There weren’t many things hotter at Stonewall Park than the blistering temperatures on Thursday afternoon, but the James Wood bats certainly were sizzling.

The Colonels racked up 12 hits, including a three-run homer from pitcher Cadence Rieg, in avenging an earlier defeat to Sherando with a 14-4 romp in five innings.

Eight of the nine James Wood hitters had at least one hit and seven of the nine reached base multiple times as the Colonels avenged a 7-6 loss against the Warriors two weeks ago.

“It was definitely something we needed,” said Caitlyn Shutts, who reached base all four times and drove in a pair of runs, including the game’s final tally. “We’ve been coming off games where we’ve been getting one here or there, but today we really just tied them together to get each other in.”

After going out 1-2-3 in the first inning, the Colonels put up multiple runs in their final four at-bats, including a six-run fourth that blew the game open against their biggest rival.

“It was just a matter of time until we put something together like this,” James Wood coach Todd Baker said. “I’m glad it was Sherando when we were able to put it together. We’ve seen bits and pieces of it, but we were never able to put it together for a complete game.”

“They put pressure on us No. 1 through No. 9 today,” Sherando coach Clarence Smith said. “There were no easy spots in the lineup.”

Rieg got things going for the Colonels (6-2 overall, 5-2 district) in the bottom of the second by blasting a deep shot over the center field fence at Franklin Field that made it 3-0.

“It felt good because I hadn’t been hitting well,” said Rieg of her second homer of the season. “It felt good coming off the bat.”

Sherando (5-5, 5-3) bounced back an inning later. Hits by Abby Schellhammer and Abby Vadnais sandwiched around Anna Borst being hit by a pitch loaded the bases with no outs. The Warriors plated two runs on a groundout and a wild pitch before Tess Palmer’s sinking liner to right drove in two to give the Warriors a 4-3 lead.

During the long frame, Rieg needed water on the mound.

“It was very hot,” the freshman right-hander said. “I thought I was going to die out there.”

But her teammates immediately picked up the slack. Jenna Burkhamer and Sydney Orndorff plated runs with singles before Shutts belted an RBI double to right-center as the Colonels bounced back to regain a 6-4 lead.

“We really needed to boost our energy,” Shutts said of the three-run inning. “Everyone was up in the dugout after that.”

The Colonels then sent 11 batters to the plate in the six-run fourth against a pair of Sherando pitchers. Sadie Kittoe’s two-run triple started the fireworks. Burkhamer, Laken Whipkey and Ellie Johnson also had run-scoring singles in the frame.

After Rieg got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fifth, the Colonels put the game on ice. One run scored on an error before Shutts smacked Jessica Greene’s first pitch through the middle to drive home Olivia Miller and end the contest with the mercy rule.

Shutts said she was thinking about Rieg and the heat when she stepped into the batter’s box. “I feel like me being up there I was kind of hitting for her because we had to end the game. She couldn’t go pitch again.

“I was determined for that. My other at-bats I had been taking the first pitch. I couldn’t wait this time. I had to bring this one up the gap. Thankfully, that’s what happened.”

Rieg allowed four hits, struck out five and walked three.

“I thought their pitcher did a nice job,” Smith said. “She pitched out of the strike zone quite a bit and got us to chase. Kudos to her for realizing that she didn’t have to live in the middle of the plate for us because we were willing to help her out.”

“She’s definitely a hard thrower,” Baker said. “She’s not completely polished yet. If she masters all of her pitches, she can be as good as it comes. … She seems to always battle back to get the strikeout or groundout or pop out when you need it.”

Smith said that while his hitters helped Rieg, it was exactly the opposite for Warriors starter Jessica Greene.

“It seemed like when she made good pitches, we were just out of the strike zone with them,” Smith said. “Then if she made a mistake, James Wood to their credit didn’t miss a single mistake pitch today.”

Shutts, Kittoe, Burkhamer and Orndorff each had two hits. Miller scored three runs, while Shutts and Burkhamer came around twice.

Abby Vadnais had two hits for the Warriors.

The Colonels next face Culpeper County today and hope Thursday’s win can propel them down the stretch.

“I feel like I can come out with confidence,” Rieg said. “There’s no team that I don’t think we can beat now.”

“I think anytime you beat Sherando this late in the season and beat them soundly it’s got to help you,” Baker added.

Meanwhile, Sherando is trying to turn around a rough patch. The Warriors were 4-0 after beating James Wood, but have gone 1-5 since.

“There’s no secret,” Smith said of finding an answer to the skid. “Our struggles start on offense right now. I think hitting is contagious, just like slumping can be. It’s going to take a kid that’s going to get fired up and turn this thing around and pass the bat down to the next kid. It’s a mindset and right now our mindset is in negative head space. We’ve got to figure out a way turn this thing around. As long as we’re in this, we’re going to be a quick out in the playoffs.

“We’re not playing a good brand of softball right now,” he added. “We’re back into a position now where were going to be really scuffling to realize our aspirations and our ambitions from just a short couple of weeks ago.”

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