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The Rockbridge County High School softball team suffered a pair of road losses last week, falling to Alleghany 13-1 in five innings on Thursday before suffering an 8-2 loss to Valley District rival Spotswood on Friday. The loss to Spotswood was the seventh consecutive defeat for the Wildcats (5-12).
Alleghany (10-4), which had won at RC 7-4 on March 22, had been hitting well going into Thursday’s game, and the Mountaineers recorded nine hits in the rematch, hitting five home runs.
“It’s tough when good hitters are able to hit any pitch that is thrown at them,” said RC head coach Keston Pelter.
Benefitting from two RC errors, the Mountaineers took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. The Wildcats scored their only run on an Alleghany error in the third.
The Mountaineers added five runs in the fourth and five more in the fifth to end the game early due to the 10-run mercy rule.
Savannah Cash hit three home runs for Alleghany, and Bryce Leitch had two homers. RC recorded seven hits, led by Kelsie Caldwell with two.
Pelter said the Wildcats “stuck through the game and made adjustments,” helping them for Friday’s game.
Spotswood 8, RC 2
The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the second inning against Spotswood on Friday, but the Trailblazers (10-6 overall, 4-3 district) answered by coming alive at the plate in the fourth and fifth innings and scoring eight unanswered runs. The loss dropped RC to 1-5 in the district.
With the win, Spotswood completed a sweep of the regular-season series with RC. When the teams met on April 18 in Lexington, Spotswood won 6-1.
RC junior pitcher Marla Zollman contained Spotswood’s hitters early on, striking out four of the first six batters she faced.
The Wildcats scored first when Bella Dorey singled to bring home Sadie Moore in the second, and Caldwell singled to drive in Emma Hall. RC then had runners on second and third, but Spotswood pitcher CiCi Rodriguez got her team out of the jam.
In the third, Charlotte Bentley tripled to bring in Brooke Morris, cutting RC’s lead to 2-1.
Spotswood tied the game in the fourth on a single by Addy Moats that drove in Aspen Jones, and the Blazers took a 3-2 lead when Rodriguez stole home. Maycee Dean then singled to bring in a run, putting Spotswood up 4-2.
The Blazers added two runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Caldwell led the Wildcats with three hits, while Morris paced Spotswood with three hits and scored two runs.
On the mound, Rodriguez pitched a complete game to earn the win, striking out 10 and allowing five hits, one walk and two runs.
For RC, Zollman pitched a complete game, striking out five and surrendering 11 hits, no walks and eight runs.
Reviewing her team’s performance, Pelter said, “We continue to hit the ball, but we are still not finding the gaps and are hitting it right to players. Again, we are working on the routine plays and trying to clean those up each game. I am proud of the girls and the effort they gave. They played well.”
RC was scheduled to play at James River on Monday before playing host to Turner Ashby yesterday. Trying to keep their hopes alive to make the Region 3C tournament, the Wildcats will conclude the regular season with a pair of district games, at Broadway on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and at home against Harrisonburg on Monday at 5 p.m.
