Sherando, Wray deal James Wood first softball loss

WINCHESTER — Anytime Frederick County rivals James Wood and Sherando meet the records don't matter, especially in softball.

With many of the players on both teams being friends and teammates on travel teams, the game becomes more about pride and bragging rights.

Thursday night's meeting was a perfect example.

Entering the contest James Wood was sporting a perfect 6-0 record and had scored 10 or more runs five times.

Sherando freshman pitcher Lily Wray put a stop to that by silencing the Colonels in complete-game performance for a 7-2 Class 4 Northwestern District at James Wood.

"It's always a battle against James Wood," Sherando coach Mark Conner said. "You've gotta play seven innings and look at the scoreboard and see how it finishes up.

"We keep talking about collective effort on this team and at any moment everyone contributes. That's what they did tonight, I'm very proud of them."

Wray allowed just five hits, walked two batters, hit one and struck out four.

"This feels really good," Wray said. "That was a big one for us. It's a great win. I just wanted to be myself with a little bit extra. Just that added push for this game."

Conner was impressed.

"Lily pitched a great game tonight," he said. "As a freshman pitcher she shows a lot of heart out there and she's very poised, which is great to see."

James Wood (6-1, 3-1 district) had runners all over the base paths in innings two through five but just couldn't get a clutch hit off of Wray. The Colonels left eight runners on base, five of them in scoring position.

Wood loaded the bases in the third with one out and had runners on second and third in the fifth with one out but Wray was able to keep them off the board each time.

"I think I got better when they got the bases loaded," Wray said. "I like the pressure. I was just keeping it off the plate and away from them."

James Wood coach Patrick Gibson lamented the missed opportunities.

"We didn't have good discipline at the plate, but props to her," Gibson said. "She kept us off balance and she had a lot of movement on her pitches. We've got to do better at swinging at better pitches.

"I love the fight of this team and we're gonna continue to do that. We're never out of a game. We can score seven runs in a blink of an eye. We just couldn't quite get it done tonight."

As good as James Wood's offense has been, Sherando (5-4, 4-0) was averaging nearly 15 runs a game in its first three district games.

No. 9 hitter Kendra Chunta (2 for 4 with three runs) led the offensive charge for the Warriors.

Chunta led off the top of the third with a blast to left-center field that just missed going out of the park. She settled for a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Abby Vadnais' sacrifice fly scored Chunta to give Warriors a 1-0 lead.

The score stayed that way until the Warriors broke it open with three runs in both the 5th and 6th innings, with both rallies again started by Chunta.

Chunta led off the fifth with a single, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Madison Harris (two runs) walked with one out and one out later Santanna Puller walked to load the bases.

With two outs, Jaeda Long (two hits) hit a slow roller to short that she was able to beat out. Chunta scored easily and heads-up base running by Harrison allowed her to score all the way from second to make it 3-0. Kayla Grum (two hits) followed with an RBI single to make it 4-0.

With one out in the sixth, Chunta reached on an error. In an effort to set up a double play the Colonels brought in right fielder Ellie Johnson to play second base and moved second baseman Izzy McKee up the middle towards the base.

After Chunta stole second, Vadnais made the Colonels pay for their defensive setup. She promptly rifled a sharp ground ball through the right side of the infield to an unoccupied right field for a triple, easily scoring Chunta for her second RBI to make it 5-0.

Harris followed with an RBI single to make it 6-0 and would score later in the inning on a wild pitch for a 7-0 cushion.

The Colonels were finally able to get to Wray in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Aliza Judd and Cadence Rieg combined for four of the Colonels' five hits, and Judd led off the seventh with an opposite field double to the gap in left center. Rieg followed that up with a blast to dead center field for a two-run home run to make it 7-2. But Wray calmly retired the next three hitters to end the game.

Outside of Judd and Rieg, the Colonels were 1 for 21.