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In its first week of action, the Parry McCluer High School softball team split a pair of Pioneer District games, cruising to a 27-1 road win in five innings over Narrows on Tuesday of last week before suffering an 11-3 home loss to Covington on Thursday.
Against a rebuilding Narrows team, the Fighting Blues (1-1) got their offense going early, scoring two runs in the first inning and racking up 12 runs in the second. PM added eight runs in the third and continued to pull away, ending the game early due to the 10-run mercy rule.
“We played well,” said PM head coach Troy Clark. “We played confident.” The ninthyear PM head coach said he knew Narrows would be struggling this year, and he said his players “handled that one well.”
Logan Vest and Autumn Mundy led PM with three hits each, and Victoria Hamilton hit a home run.
With the loss, the Green Wave fell to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the district.
CHS 11, PM 3
In a much tougher challenge against Covington (3-2, 1-0), the Blues lost their home opener 11-3 on Thursday.
When the teams last met in the Pioneer District finals last May, Covington beat the Blues 7-6 in nine innings.
On Thursday, the Cougars took a 1-0 lead in the first when Tyra Rose stole home. PM answered back with two runs in the second, as Julian doubled on a fly ball to left field to bring home Mundy, and Claudia Coleman doubled on a fly ball past second base to drive in Julian.
Covington tied the game 2-2 in the second when Taylor Stayton scored on a sacrifice fly. In the third, the Cougars took a 3-2 lead when Kayla Bartley doubled on a grounder to left field to bring home Rose.
After a scoreless fourth inning, the Cougars got their bats going again in the fifth, racking up five runs. Following a PM error, Bartley scored on a single by Lexi Dressler. Stayton then hit a grounder to left field to drive in Brooklyn Hicks, and Kayleah Jones doubled on a fly ball to left field to bring in Dressler and Stayton. Laken Cantrell then hit a grounder to left field to drive in Jones, extending Covington’s lead to 8-2.
The Blues scored their final run in the ninth when Mundy doubled on a fly ball to center field to bring home Vest.
The Cougars didn’t score in the sixth, but they had the game’s final three runs in the seventh. A groundout brought home Gabby Marshall, and Hicks tripled on a fly ball to left field to drive in Addison Morris and Bartley.
Vest led the Blues with two hits, while Marshall paced Covington with three hits, and Rose, Bartley and Hicks each had two hits for the Cougars.
On the mound for Covington, Bartley pitched a complete game, striking out seven and allowing five hits and one walk. Clark said Bartley is “a really good pitcher.”
Pitching a complete game for PM, Claudia Coleman struck out five and surrendered 13 hits and five walks. “She pitched well enough to win,” said Clark of Coleman. “We’ve just got to make the plays behind her.”
Reviewing his team’s performance, Clark said, “I thought our girls played well. We played pretty good defense. The top half of the lineup hit well, I thought. We’ve got some young girls. I thought they played really well under the circumstances. … We’ve just got to keep working and get better.”
Last year, the Blues went 9-12 overall and 7-1 in the Pioneer District, tying Covington for first place in the regular season, splitting the season series with the Cougars before Covington won the first-place game 7-3. PM ended last season with a 9-7 home loss in nine innings to Fort Chiswell in the Region 1C quarterfinals.
From that team, the Blues graduated eight seniors, led by six all-district players: pitcher Katie Claytor, second baseman Laura Wade, third baseman Amber Grow, catcher Kallie Grow, outfielders Amber Grow and Kaitlyn Dudley. Claytor, who was an all-region second team selection, is now playing Division III softball for Southern Virginia University.
The Blues return four players from last year’s team. Emore, a junior shortstop, was named to the all-region first team and to the Class 1 all-state second team last year. Another all-region first team selection who is returning is Vest, now a sophomore.
Coleman and Mundy, a junior catcher, are new to the varsity team, but Clark sees them, Vest and Emore as the Blues’ leaders.
The PM coach said the Blues are young, so they’ll be learning and growing in these early games.
Coleman is PM’s lone senior, while the Blues have four juniors: Mundy, Emore, McKenna Hickman and Gracey Shafer, a right fielder.
The Blues have five sophomores: Vest, Julian, second baseman Natalie Mohler, left fielder Alysa Wheeler and third baseman Victoria Hamilton. Julian, a first baseman, played last year and was an all-district second team selection Mohler, Wheeler and Hamilton are on the varsity team for the first time.
Returning as an assistant coach for the Blues is Keith Ruley, while the Blues add Jimmy Emore. Former PM assistant coach Wayne Beverley left to serve as an assistant coach for his daughter, RC head coach Keston Pelter.
The Blues were scheduled to play at Temple Christian on Monday and will return to Pioneer District action at Eastern Montgomery today, Wednesday, before playing a nondistrict doubleheader at Liberty (Bedford) on Thursday. They’ll play host to Temple Christian on Tuesday. On all evenings, softball is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
