James Wood falls to Jefferson Forest in Region 4D softball final

WINCHESTER — After four innings were complete in Tuesday’s Region 4D softball championship game, a siren went off atop of James Wood High School to alert everyone that lightning had been detected nearby.

Through those four innings, it was pretty apparent that there was plenty of lightning in the right arm of Jefferson Forest pitcher Amelia Long.

The junior tossed five no-hit innings and finished with a three-hitter as the Cavaliers knocked off the Colonels 5-1 at Ridge Field. Freshman Mati Gouldthorpe smashed a two-run homer in a three-run fifth against the Colonels, who will now travel to the Region 4C champion on Tuesday in the Class 4 state quarterfinals.

Long, who has orally committed to Pitt, struck out 14 and walked just one in a dominating performance that was interrupted for about 30 minutes by the lightning delay.

“Props to her, she’s legit,” James Wood coach Patrick Gibson said of Long. “I talked to the girls and it’s tough when you get to this point in the season and that’s the best pitcher you’ve faced all season because she had speed and spin. [Sherando’s] Lily [Wray] is legit, too, but [Long] had the speed and the spin which made it more difficult.”

Long had two strikeouts in every inning but the sixth when James Wood broke up her no-hitter.

What made her so effective?

“It was just knowing that my team was behind me the entire time, knowing they were going to come through and get me big hits and that they were behind me on defense,” Long said. “That sixth inning could have been real bad, but they came through. I love my team and we’re going to go far. I’m so incredibly proud of all of them.”

“Amelia has done great,” Jefferson Forest coach Gary Harris said. “She just keeps her composure and trusts her defense. She doesn’t get rattled. I couldn’t be prouder of what she did for us tonight.”

Long and James Wood’s Cadence Rieg hooked up for a pretty strong pitcher’s duel. Rieg, the Class 4 Northwestern District Co-Player of the Year, allowed just one hit and struck out four through the first three innings against a lineup that featured mostly left-handed hitters.

The Cavaliers finally broke through in the fourth. Gouldthorpe drew a leadoff walk, was sacrificed to second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Kinsley Peek’s single up the middle that was just out of the reach of second baseman Kati Brannon.

After Long retired the side in the bottom of the inning, the siren went off forcing a stoppage in play. The Cavaliers (18-5), who started five freshmen, spent the break not worrying about what had happened the first four innings.

“We sang on the bus and kind of goofed around a little bit,” Long said. “We didn’t really strategize. We just had fun. We made sure we were all really loose and not tensed up.”

It must have worked.

When the game resumed, Gibson — like he has done throughout a big chunk of the season — went to the bullpen for freshman Sophia Gerald. He said that in no way was he disappointed in Rieg’s performance against a team that had scored seven or more runs in 13 games.

“To hold them to one run through four innings, she did her job,” Gibson said of Rieg. “We made the move because of the long delay. We had done it all year and it worked, so we thought it was the right time.”

Kimber Spence opened the fifth with a bloop single to short left. After Spence was sacrificed to second, a dropped throw at first would really bite the Colonels. Hailee Fortune followed with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 2-0. Gouldthorpe then followed with a deep fly ball to right-center that just cleared the fence to make the score 4-0.

Harris said Gouldthorpe started the season as his No. 9 hitter, but he has moved her to the No. 2 slot and is reaping the dividends. The homer was her first of the season. “She’s been hitting the ball well,” Harris said of the lefty-swinging Gouldthorpe. “I though she had one in Blacksburg [an 8-3 semifinal win]. She just hits line drives. If you keep swinging the bat like that, they’ll start to go.”

The Cavaliers tacked on one more in the sixth as Lauren Smith hit a bloop single, moved to second on a sacrifice and to third on a passed ball before scoring on Spence’s two-out single.

Limited to a walk and a hit batter before the break, the Colonels finally found some offense in the bottom of the inning, but they also were a bit unlucky.

Rieg lined a 2-2 pitch into left field for the Colonels’ first hit. Brynnen Williams followed with a double to the base of the fence in dead center. Aliza Judd’s fly to left plated Rieg to make it 5-1. Skyla Compton then scalded a liner to shortstop Ella Walker, who gloved it and threw to third to double off Williams to end the threat.

“We had the lightning delay and I thought we made some adjustments,” Gibson said. “We had better at-bats and it showed. It was just kind of too late and we didn’t play well enough defensively to keep it close enough.”

Long surrendered a one-out single to Brannon in the seventh, but retired the final two batters to start a big celebration in the circle. The Cavaliers will get to host the Region 4C runner-up on Tuesday.

“This is the second time we’ve ever won a region title,” Long said. “It’s great, especially for the seniors. That’s what they wanted — to play one more time at home.”

The Colonels (19-4) have preached resiliency all season and will look to bounce back on the road on Tuesday. Gibson said that during the postgame meeting he and his team leaders are already focusing on the quarterfinal game.

“They love each other. The chemistry is great. There’s no drama,” Gibson said. “We’re going to fight for seven innings no matter who we play. We have to go on the road and like we told them every game from here on out is a state title game.”

— Contact Walt Moody at
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