WINCHESTER — Since the end of the regular season, the Millbrook High School softball team has been on a mission, and Wednesday night at James Wood it made its biggest dream a reality.
In their regular-season finale, the Pioneers rallied in the seventh inning to beat Sherando and snap a four-game losing streak. Millbrook hasn’t lost since.
The “Road” Pioneers picked up their third straight road win in the Region 4D tournament, beating James Wood 6-5 in nine innings thanks to junior Rowan McCullough’s solo home run in the top of the ninth at Ridge Field.
The No. 5 North Pioneers have knocked off the North’s No. 4 (Orange County), No. 1 (Sherando) and No. 2 (James Wood) seeds to advance to Friday’s 6 p.m. Region 4D championship game at South No. 1 Jefferson Forest (a 3-2 winner over Amherst County to improve to 18-1). And more importantly, Millbrook has qualified for the program’s first-ever state tournament and will play in the Class 4 quarterfinals on Tuesday.
“New favorite win, new favorite win,” said Millbrook coach Carolyn Campbell with a huge smile, a nod to what she stated after being Sherando. “[McCullough’s home run] was exactly what we needed. We knew all along that anybody with a bat in their hands could get a hit. She came up big and did it for us. One pitch at a time, one hit at a time. Pass the bat.
“[The state tournament], that’s where this team belongs. This is the team [we were capable of being] all along.”
McCullough couldn’t be happier about the state berth.
“I’m very excited,” McCullough said. “I know it’s a first for all of us. We’re super pumped and we’re ready to keep going.
“That was a great team effort. We battled through the whole thing. It was insane. Our defense was amazing. It was perfect. It was my favorite game by far.”
James Wood (16-7) — which swept the Pioneers during the regular season — saw its season and run of two consecutive trips to the state tournament come to an end.
Millbrook (12-9) looked to be in complete control with an early 5-0 lead and ace Emma Martin, who gave up a combined one unearned run in the first two games of the tournament, in the circle. But James Wood rallied to send the game into extra innings.
Both teams had opportunities to win the game in extra innings, but it wasn’t until the top of the ninth with one out that an opportunity for victory was created. That was when McCullough launched a fastball over the center field fence to give the Pioneers the lead.
“I haven’t hit a home run this year,” said McCullough, who had three last year to lead the team. “I’ve hit one every year, so I think I was just due for one.
“I was in disbelief a little bit but I knew we still had a game ahead of us. I knew we had to get through their lineup, so I was still locked in.”
The Colonels went in order in the bottom of the ninth. Amaya Shook, who relieved Martin in the sixth, retired the last six hitters she faced to end the game.
In the top of the first, the Colonels were done in by a pair of errors, staking the Pioneers to a 2-0 lead.
McCullough led off the game with a hit and went first to third on a bunt single by Allie Simmons. On the throw to third, the ball got away from the Colonels, allowing McCullough to score and Simmons to get to second.
Simmons tagged and moved to third when Jazmin Orr hit a fly to right. On the throw to third the ball again got away from the Colonels, allowing Simmons to score and make it 2-0.
In the bottom of the first the Colonels threatened with one out when Aliza Judd singled and Kati Brannon reached on an error. Martin was able to retire the next two hitters and end the threat.
“We didn’t play well at all early in the game,” James Wood coach Patrick Gibson said. “We work every day on bunt defense. I think the game was just too fast for us, whatever nerves or whatever it was, but we played awful in the first couple of innings.”
The score stayed 2-0 until the top of the third when the Pioneers added three runs.
Back-to-back singles by No. 9 hitter Kaylen Giza and McCullough started the inning. They both moved up 60 feet on another throwing error by the Colonels.
Simmons dropped down a perfect safety squeeze bunt, scoring Giza for a 3-0 lead and bringing up one of the hottest Pioneer hitters in Orr.
Orr, who homered in both of the first two games of the tournament against Orange County and Sherando, did it again. She hammered a two-run shot over the left field fence for a 5-0 advantage.
James Wood got a run back in the bottom of the third. With two outs Brannon singled and stole second. She came around to score on Molly Maynard’s RBI double to trim the deficit to 5-1.
Still trailing by four to start the bottom of the fifth inning, the Colonels jumped right back into the contest on one big swing of the bat.
With one out Judd, Brannon, and Maynard all singled to load the bases. One out later, Kayleigh Harden launched a pitch over the left field fence for a grand slam that tied the score 5-5.
Both teams had an opportunity to win the game in the eighth inning.
Millbrook’s Kimber Rudolph led off with a single and moved to second on a base hit from Lexi Edwards. Both runners moved up a base on a slow ground ball to short.
With the go-ahead run at third, the Pioneers ran into some back luck when Ciara Major ripped a line drive right at Wood shortstop Brynnen Williams, who was able to turn it into an inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the eighth, Wood’s Aubrey Nail led off with a beautiful bunt single and was able to get to second on a throwing error with two outs. Shook was able to strand Nail at second with a strikeout to end the inning.
The Colonels outhit the Pioneers 11-10. But outside of a couple of mid-game instances, they couldn’t get a key hit when they needed it.
“Props to Millbrook,” Gibson said. “Right now they’re a hot team, and Emma Martin pitched a great game, and they got the clutch hits, and they deserve it.
“It’s a tough one. We’re used to pulling [games like this] out. We had plenty of opportunities. We just couldn’t get the big hit. We reset the game in the fifth inning and that’s all we wanted to do, tie it up and give ourselves a shot. We had plenty of opportunities but we just couldn’t get it done.”
Gibson is hopeful for the future.
“We only lose two [seniors, Judd and Emma Hild], and we have a great freshmen class coming in,” Gibson said. “I love where we’re at as a program.”
McCullough led the way for the Pioneers with three hits and three runs. Lexi Edwards had two hits. Four Colonels had two hits — Judd, Brannon (two runs), Maynard (one RBI) and Harden.