Four-run seventh inning lifts Wood softball past Sherando

STEPHENS CITY — First, James Wood catcher Sydney Orndorff screamed with excitement after the out she knew was coming was called by the home plate umpire to end the bottom of the sixth inning, wiping out what initially looked like the go-ahead run for Sherando on Thursday.

Orndorff's screaming was far from over.

Orndorff's two-out, two-strike double took one hop off the fence in left-center field to bring home the winning run and start a four-run outburst in the top of the seventh inning.

Then Orndorff fielded a roller and threw to first for the last out of the game to strand two runners in the bottom of the frame and complete James Wood's thrilling 7-3 Class 4 Northwestern District softball win over the Warriors at Sherando Park.

The Warriors (13-6, 10-1 district) — who were denied a 4-3 lead in the sixth on a batter's box violation — would have clinched an automatic Region 4C tournament berth and completed a season sweep of the Colonels (18-2, 11-1) had they won on Thursday.

Now, Sherando needs to beat Millbrook on Friday at Sherando Park so it can get a second chance at capturing the district's automatic region berth. A Warrior win would give Sherando and James Wood identical 11-1 district records and result in a region berth playoff game on Monday between the two Frederick County rivals at Millbrook.

A Pioneers victory would give James Wood sole possession of the district regular-season title and the automatic region berth. With a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third inning of the game that started on May 4, Millbrook has a chance to do it. Friday's game starts at 4 p.m.

"We're so ready to come and watch [the] game [Friday]," said Orndorff, who went 4 for 4 with two RBIs on Thursday to give her an area-best 34 RBIs.

James Wood battled hard Thursday to put itself in the position it is in.

The Colonels trailed 3-1 before Jenna Shull grounded a two-run single to left to tie the game 3-3 in the third inning. James Wood nearly took the lead in the fifth by loading the bases on three fly ball singles against Lily Wray, but Wray ended the threat with a strikeout and fly out.

Sherando would put a runner on third in each of the next two innings. Shull — who entered the circle to start the fifth inning in relief of starter Cadence Rieg — got out of the bottom of the fifth with a fly out to right, but it initially looked like the Warriors would cash in on their opportunity in the sixth.

With two outs, catcher Kayla Grum drew her second walk of the game, then stole second and went to third when Orndorff's attempt to throw her out went into the outfield.

Grum's steal came with the left-handed Anna Borst at the plate, who drove in Sherando's initial run with a line-drive single to center and scored on Mady Cox's double to make it 2-1 in the first inning.

In the sixth, Borst smoothly hit a fly ball that hit the ground near the left field line to allow Grum to cross the plate and send the Warrior fans into a happy frenzy after seemingly taking a 4-3 lead.

But while that was happening, the home plate umpire was calling Borst out as he stood near first base. It wasn't apparent to anyone in the press box at the time as to why Borst was out, but Orndorff — who was halfway down the first base line watching the action with the ump intently — explained after the game that she knew exactly what was coming.

"When [Borst] went to slap the ball [with her bat], she actually came out of the [batter's] box and hit her foot on the plate," said Orndorff, who added that she didn't need to say anything about it to the umpire.

The National Federation of State High School Associations states that if a batter hits a ball while either foot is touching the ground completely outside the lines of the batter's box, they are out, even if they don't touch the plate, which is also a violation.

Sherando coach Mark Conner didn't speak to Borst about the play after the game, but he was told by the ump she touched the plate. It was a tough break for Borst, a strong hitter who is batting .388 (19 for 49) this season.

"Obviously, that took us out of the momentum in that inning," Conner said. "You can only ask and question [the ump] a little bit. The call was the call."

Orndorff said the Colonels knew that an opportunity now was there to seize the momentum themselves. Sadie Kittoe — who walked with one out — stirred up the crowd by putting herself into scoring position by stealing second base on the first pitch to Orndorff, who came up with two outs.

Orndorff took a strike on that first pitch, then fouled off the next pitch to go down 0-2.

"I was getting nervous," said Orndorff, who will play for NCAA Division III Eastern Mennonite University next year. "I take deep breaths when I get really nervous to calm myself down. I felt like when I got in the box, 'This has happened to me so many times, that I'm just ready for this, and this is my time to capitalize on it.' And I was ready to smack the ball.

"It was fireworks in my mind and my body when I [drove in] the go-ahead run. I knew once I hit the ball, my teammates behind me would hit the ball as well."

Orndorff's double scored Kittoe and opened the floodgates. Aliza Judd (2 for 4) followed with a ground single to center to score courtesy runner Emma Lindamood and make it 5-3. Skyla Compton (2 for 4, two runs) then hammered a ball slightly to the right of the 200-foot sign that appeared to travel nearly 20 feet beyond the fence for a two-run home run that made it 7-3.

That was the last batter for Wray, who pitched 6.2 innings and allowed seven earned runs, 12 hits and one walk and had five strikeouts.

The freshman — who added an RBI with a squeeze bunt in the third inning — has been outstanding this year with a 1.62 ERA and an area-best 0.89 WHIP. In her first appearance against James Wood on March 30, she allowed one earned run, four hits and two walks in a complete game 7-2 win.

Orndorff said the Colonels made some adjustments for Wray on Thursday.

"We worked on outside [pitches] and rise balls," Orndorff said. "We watched her rise ball out of her hand. You can see the spin coming at you, and that's what we recognized. If she can't get up, she's going to go out, and if she can't get out, she'll go up. If she can't get either, she has to go down the middle. That's when we capitalized."

James Wood wasn't out of the woods against a Sherando team that had put up seven or more runs in 14 games this year. Colonels coach Patrick Gibson said Shull appeared to have some fatigue in the seventh as a result of throwing a one-hit shutout over five innings in a 10-0 win over Millbrook on Wednesday. Shull walked the first two batters of the inning.

"I just had to take a deep breath and know that my catcher has my back and my defense has my back," Shull said.

Shull would finish strong. Against the top of Sherando's order, she induced a fielder's choice groundout from Abby Vadnais to get an out at second, got Winchester-Frederick County batting leader Madison Harris to pop out, and then got Wray to hit a tapper that Orndorff scooped up and fired to first for the final out.

Gibson felt his team had a solid approach at the plate, using patience and discipline to compel Wray to throw a little more over the plate in the seventh. And he always has faith Orndorff will come up big in an important spot.

"She's our RBI machine," Gibson said. "Great performance by her."

Shull pitched three shutout innings to earn the win, allowing just one hit and three walks while striking out two batters. Rieg (2 for 4, run) allowed three earned runs, two hits and four walks and struck out three batters in the first four innings.

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