STEPHENS CITY — After three straight one-run victories, Sherando made sure ace pitcher Lily Wray had plenty of breathing room when she took the circle to close out Thursday’s high school softball game with James Wood at Sherando Park.
The Warriors scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 11-3, and that held up as the final score as Sherando won its ninth straight game and completed a season sweep of the Colonels for the second straight year.
With James Wood ace pitcher Sophia Gerald sidelined for the second straight game, Sherando (10-1) recorded 15 hits, took advantage of five errors, and answered James Wood’s scoring innings relatively quickly.
The Warriors responded to James Wood’s run in the first inning with two in the second for a 2-1 lead and scored three times in the fourth after the Colonels (9-2) scored twice in the third for a 5-3 lead. Sherando scored six two-out runs in the seventh, with an opposite-field single by Elle Shutts driving in the first two runs.
Wray made sure the Colonels never got much momentum after they took their 3-2 lead, limiting James Wood to three hits in the last four innings. Wray allowed two earned runs, six hits, no walks and struck out eight batters.
Overall, Sherando coach Mark Conner was proud of the performance.
“We had some timely hits tonight,” Conner said. “James Wood’s a really good team, obviously. You never know how these games are going to go. It was really satisfying to see those girls score those runs in the bottom of the sixth to give Lily some room to work.”
Conner was particularly pleased with the production from the bottom of Sherando’s lineup.
“They had been struggling a little bit, but tonight, they kind of carried us, I thought,” Conner said.
Sophomore Jesse Kaiser — who hit sixth Thursday — went 4 for 4 with three runs and an RBI that made it 8-3 for her first four-hit game with the Warriors.
Sherando’s 7, 8 and 9 hitters all came into Thursday batting under .200 but combined for five hits against James Wood.
Leighanne Lowe (3 for 4 with a double, two RBIs) and Abigael Rinker (1 for 4 with a run, RBI) drove in the Warriors’ last three runs in the sixth. Eliza Anderson drove in her first two runs of the season by singling past a drawn-in infield to put Sherando on top for good at 4-3 in the fourth inning.
“I struggled a little bit the last few games, but I’m glad I finally adjusted and got some hits,” Kaiser said. “[Assistant coach Blake Conner] really helped me adjust to keeping my barrel level, and I think that really helped today. And I tried not to get in my head as much.”
Mark Conner said Kaiser is one of a few players that Sherando has focused on lately to help them get in a groove.
“We like to see the barrels come through the zone,” he said. “Jessie made the adjustments that she needed to. We talk with our players a lot about how if you’re struggling, you’ve got to do something different to kind of get that confidence back. Jessie did a a really great job tonight.”
While Sherando did a lot of good things with their bats early on, the Warriors’ offense was also helped out by James Wood’s inability to make some plays on defense behind freshman pitcher Maggie Maynard, who allowed 12 hits and one walk while striking four batters in 5.2 innings.
Before the Colonels took the field, they had a lead thanks mainly to Brynnen Williams (3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI). She singled to left, advanced all the way to third on Aubrey Nail’s sacrifice bunt (Sherando couldn’t hold on to a rushed tag attempt on a throw to third after the out at first), then slid headfirst to score on Taylor Fishel’s sacrifice fly to right.
In the bottom of the second, a Sherando rally started in unusual fashion. A pitch that rode in on leadoff hitter Makayla Williams’ hands appeared to be ruled a foul ball. But after a delay in which Conner came over to check on her, the umpire suddenly motioned to first to indicate a hit by pitch.
Kaiser followed with the first of her four singles, then Lowe laid down a bunt toward third that was going to move both runners up a base. It did a lot more than that. The throw to first was dropped and the ball ricocheted into the outfield to allow both Williams (two runs) and Kaiser to score for a 2-1 Sherando lead.
James Wood regained the lead in the third inning. Molly Maynard (2 for 3) singled, moved to second on a bunt by Sophia Rohrbach, then scored on Williams’ liner to second. Williams took second on a throw home, which allowed her to score easily after the ensuing at-bat. Nail bunted, and the attempt to throw her out bounced into right field. Williams’ run made it 3-2 James Wood.
In the Sherando fourth, Kaiser led off with a single. An error on a grounder to short put runners on second and third, then Anderson delivered her two-run single by pulling the ball between short and third. Anderson would get in a rundown trying to reach second after the ball was thrown home for the second out.
But singles by Sophia Zimmerman (2 for 3 with a run and walk) and Mady Cox (3 for 4 with a run) put pressure on James Wood again. With Zimmerman on third, Cox stole second, and Zimmerman scored as the throw to get Cox went into the outfield.
James Wood coach Patrick Gibson lamented some non-strike calls in the sixth inning that hurt the Colonels’ cause. But the miscues that put James Wood behind and continued in the sixth were particularly tough to handle.
“Maggie pitched great,” Gibson said. “She’s a freshman, and she took the ball against a really good team. She came out, and she gave us an opportunity to win. But we didn’t execute at all defensively. We were horrible. We’ve got to play defense behind her.”
Teams can rarely afford to give up unearned runs with Wray on the mound. Wray was strong last year (2.15 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP with 68 strikeouts in 62 innings). She’s already surpassed last year’s inning total with 64.1, she’s four short of last year’s strikeout total with 64, and she has a 1.41 ERA and 0.87 WHIP.
“We’ve worked her in a lot of games, but I feel like she still looks fresh out there,” said Conner, who plans on trying to use more arms in the second half of the season to keep Wray efficient.
On Thursday, Wray stuck with the mindset and displayed the execution that’s been present all year. She had a strikeout to strand a runner on second in the fifth, another strikeout to leave a runner at first in the sixth, and retired the Colonels in order in the seventh.
“I just stay confident when there are people on base,” Wray said. “I was confident the whole time. I stay calm and I trust my team.
“I’ve pitched a lot of complete games this year. I’ve really been working on my stamina. Once you get to the fifth or seventh inning, it definitely gets a lot harder, and I feel like I’ve stayed really strong through those innings.”
Patrick said Wood doesn’t expect to be without Gerald for a long time. The Colonels just want her to be healthy and their young team to be peaking at the right time.
“We started five freshmen, and we have another one we could have started as well,” Gibson said. “I’m proud of this team. All that matters is making the [region] tournament.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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