Wood softball slugs its way to first state tourney berth

After knocking on the state tournament door for years, the James Wood softball team finally bashed it in with its thunderous bats.

The Colonels earned their first state tournament berth in program history with a gritty 12-10 win over Dulles District runner-up Loudoun Valley in the Region 4C semifinals on Tuesday at Ridge Field. James Wood trailed 3-1 halfway through the second inning, 7-6 halfway through the fourth and staved off a Viking rally in the seventh.

James Wood (21-2) rapped out 15 hits — including three home runs — to finally get past the region stage. The Colonels have advanced to region tournament play every season since 2016, and were one win away qualifying for the state tournament in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.

James Wood will take on Dulles champion Tuscarora (22-2) at 6:30 p.m. on Friday in Leesburg in the region championship game. Both teams went 18-2 during the regular season, but the Huskies — who beat Sherando 5-0 in Tuesday's other semifinal — were awarded home field for Friday's game as a result of winning a coin flip.

James Wood first-year head coach Patrick Gibson — an assistant for Todd Baker during the previous regional appearances — told his players just how proud he was of them after Tuesday's victory. The Colonels' season also includes Class 4 Northwestern District regular-season and tournament championships and a school-record win total.

"We've made regionals seven years in a row, and tonight we finally got over the hump," said Gibson in an interview at Ridge Field on Tuesday. "It's tough getting to that spot and being one game short of your goal every year.

"I told the team tonight, in my eyes, this is the best softball team in James Wood history for getting this done."

The Colonels scored in every inning, and nine players had at least one hit. Those players were Skyla Compton (2 for 4 with a home run and four RBIs); Sadie Kittoe (2-4 with a double and solo home run in the third inning); Izzy McKee (solo home run to tie the game in the fourth); Cadence Rieg, Aliza Judd and Ellie Johnson (each 2 for 4 with an RBI); Sydney Orndorff (2 for 4); Jenna Shull (1-3 with a walk); and Kayleigh Harden (1-1 with an RBI).

Basically, it was a typical James Wood performance. The Colonels are averaging 11.8 runs per game, have posted double-digit runs in 15 of 23 games, and have only been held under five runs once.

"My assistant coaches are good hitting coaches, and we feel like we can hit any pitcher," Gibson said. "But we won that game with heart, and mental toughness at the plate, and just quality at-bats up and down the lineup."

Trailing 3-1 in the third, Kittoe hit a solo home run to make it 3-2, then Compton gave the Colonels a 6-4 lead with a three-run home run.

"She's had a great year offensively," said Gibson of Compton. "She's in our six-hole, but she could easily be in our three- or four-hole."

With the score 7-7 after four innings, the Colonels took the lead for good with three runs in the fifth inning. Loudoun Valley made it 10-8 in the sixth, but the Colonels added two more runs in the bottom of the frame for a 12-8 lead.

"We preach tacking on runs," Gibson said. "Those tack-on runs were key."

In the seventh inning, the Vikings made a final charge, but James Wood's defense stepped up to help close out the win.

With one out and runners on first and second, Loudoun Valley's Nadia Pasqualini hit a single to the right fielder Johnson that made it 12-9. Johnson threw the ball to the second baseman McKee, who in turn threw to third baseman Brynnen Williams to try and get Grace Williams advancing to third.

Williams was safe, but Pasqualini was caught in between first and second. Wood decided to focus on Pasqualini and let Grace Williams score, and Brynnen Williams threw to first baseman Aliza Judd, who eventually applied the tag for the second out. The score was 12-10, but the Vikings were now down to their last out with no one on base.

"That was a big out, because they had their big sticks coming up," Gibson said. "We work on rundowns a lot, so it was good to see it pay off."

Sloane Tanner — who hit a three-run home run in the first inning — was up next. Rieg — who pitched the last three innings in relief of Shull, who went the first four innings — got Tanner to fly out to the center fielder Compton to end the game.

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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