James Wood softball rallies to beat Sherando in thriller

WINCHESTER — Add another memorable chapter to the James Wood-Sherando softball rivalry.

The Colonels scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning Tuesday to come back from a five-run deficit and defeat Sherando 11-10, part of a night that was defined by big innings, rallies, clutch hitting, long balls, and some timely relief pitching in a Class 4 Northwestern District game at James Wood’s Ridge Field.

“This win is huge because all day at school I was like, ‘I didn’t want to lose to Sherando,’” James Wood starting pitcher Cadence Rieg said. “This is a really big confidence boost and it felt good.”

Colonels coach Todd Baker loved his team’s spirit against its rival on Tuesday.

“They’ve got a ton of talent on [Sherando] and they’re well-coached. We knew it would be a fight. It always is,” James Wood coach Todd Baker said. “I told the girls that talent and hard work and everything wins a lot of games but to win a game like this you gotta have heart.

“We’ve been down early a lot this year and we’ve battled back and it shows a lot about the team. I’m super proud of them. I would’ve been proud of them [win or lose] honestly.”

Trailing 2-0 and with only one hit heading into the bottom of the third inning, the top of the order sparked the offense for James Wood (4-5, 4-1 district).

The Colonels blistered Warriors pitching for 16 hits over the last four innings. The top five hitters in the Colonels’ lineup were a combined 12-20 with eight RBIs, three doubles, and a home run.

With one out in the third, leadoff hitter Izzy McKee lined the first of her three hits to the outfield. Rieg (three hits, double) then helped herself out with a blast over the left-field fence to tie the score at 2-2.

“I was just thinking, ‘Hit the ball,” Rieg said of her home run. “I’ve been struggling to get it to the outfield so I just hit the ball to try to get [McKee] into scoring position or even score.”

James Wood scored four runs on six hits in the inning. Laken Whipkey (two hits, three RBIs) added an RBI double and Caitlyn Shutts had an RBI single.

Sherando (2-7, 1-3) didn’t waste any time answering the Colonels’ big inning.

In the top of the fourth, Anna Borst led off by reaching on a three-base error. Leadoff hitter Abby Vadnais walked and Kayla Grum (two hits) reached on another error to score Borst, making it 4-3 and putting runners on first and second. Emma Chunta was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

That set the stage for first baseman Isabel Hall, who hammered the first pitch she saw over the fence in center field for a grand slam to put Sherando up 7-4.

The Warriors would score eight runs total in the inning for a 10-4 lead, with RBI singles from Jaeda Long (two hits) and Grum sandwiching a run that scored on an error. The Warriors had four hits and took advantage of four errors in the inning.

Rieg said the Colonels weren’t dismayed.

“We knew there were still a lot of innings to play and anything can happen in this game,” Rieg said. “We just had to keep our heads up and keep fighting.”

James Wood got one run closer in the fifth on an RBI double by Sadie Kittoe (two hits).

With no one out in the sixth, back-to-back two-run singles by Sydney Orndorff (two hits) and Whipkey pulled the Colonels to within one at 10-9. Later, Skyla Compton’s RBI single tied the game 10-10. Ellie Johnson (three hits) scored the winning run after freshman Aliza Judd grounded back to the pitcher. It looked as if Johnson would hold at third, but she raced home when the throw went to first to put the Colonels up 11-10.

That run was part of a huge night for Johnson (three hits). She came on in relief for the Colonels to get the last two outs of the fourth inning and had a perfect final three innings. Grum’s RBI single was the only hit she allowed, and she struck out three batters in her 3.2 innings. She got the last three outs on a strikeout, a liner and a pop-up.

James Wood has now won four straight, all in district play. The Colonels have scored double-digit runs five times this year and have compiled 56 runs in beating Millbrook, Handley and Sherando the last three games.

“Every win is very important and when you beat [a county] rival that makes it even that much sweeter,” Baker said. “I think we have a lot to work on, but this team once it gets rolling it’s really a hard offense to stop. If we can keep putting up runs like that and play better defense we’ll be tough to deal with.”

It was a tough loss for Sherando, though first-year coach Mark Conner liked his team’s effort.

“Typical James Wood and Sherando rivalry,” Conner said. “Tonight we kinda had a gap there for a few innings and couldn’t get any runs generated. For the most part we swung the bat well. Give credit to James Wood, their top five (hitters), we couldn’t hardly get them out.

“I’m proud of the girls. They battled for seven innings. We just came up on the short end of the stick.”