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In another classic rivalry showdown, the Parry McCluer High School softball team fended off a late rally to earn a 10-7 road win over Rockbridge County on Monday of last week in Lexington.
With the victory on what was a cool evening, the Fighting Blues improved to 8-5 and avenged their 13-8 April 14 home loss in nine innings to the Wildcats. RC hadn’t won since that first meeting with PM, and the Wildcats fell to 4-10 after their fifth consecutive loss.
In the rematch, the Blues took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Payton Emore ran home on a wild pitch.
PM added four runs in the third to go up 5-0. Emore singled and then scored on an error, and Olivia Julian hit a ball to left field to bring home Logan Vest. Autumn Mundy scored when Claudia Coleman singled on a grounder; Julian scored on a groundout by Gracey Shafer.
In the top of the fourth, Mundy doubled on a grounder to drive in Coleman and Logan Vest, and Julia hit an infield fly ball to bring home Mundy, extending PM’s lead to 8-0.
The Wildcats loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, and Kelsie Caldwell walked to drive in Emma Hall, cutting PM’s lead to 8-1. RC added another run in the fifth when Parker Dameron scored on a groundout by Kaydence Wilson.
PM answered back in the top of the sixth when Mundy singled to left field to bring home Emore and Vest, making it 10-2.
RC responded by going on an offensive surge in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five runs. After the Wildcats loaded the bases, Bella Dorey stole home, and Lilly Purcell singled on a line drive to center field to bring home Caldwell. Wilson then hit a grounder past third base to drive in Marla Zollman, cutting PM’s lead to 10-5. Purcell scored on a grounder to right field by Page Wright, and Wilson scored on a fly ball to left field by Sadie Moore, but Wright was tagged out by Mundy, PM’s catcher, while attempting to score on the same play.
Neither team scored in the seventh, with both RC and PM fielding plays to prevent runs.
Pleased with the win, PM head coach Troy Clark said, “I thought we did a good job of hanging in there, hitting. We worked the counts. We handled the pitching a lot better this time. We were more prepared, it seemed like.”
On the other side, RC head coach Keston Pelter said, “Sometimes, if we’re on it from the first inning, we’re on it from the first inning. If not, then we’ve got to battle back. We’re still young, but we continue to improve. We’re just gonna get better each game, but it’s still those routine plays that we’ve been talking about all season.”
Pelter said the Blues “put the ball in play early on, and just making those adjustments, being on their toes, knowing where the ball’s gonna go.”
The Wildcats racked up 16 hits, while PM had 13, but the Blues’ hits were more timely, helping them take that big early lead.
“It feels like that’s what we’re famous for, getting the hits later, getting them later and keeping them consistent to score,” said Pelter. “We tried to take it one base at a time, one inning at a time.”
Dorey led RC with four hits, Purcell recorded three hits, and Caldwell, Dameron and Wright each added two hits.
Emore paced the Blues with four hits, Mundy added three hits, and Vest had two.
Julian pitched the first 5.2 innings for PM, striking out two and allowing 14 hits, two walks and five runs. Coleman came to the mound for the final 1.3 innings, striking out one and surrendering two hits, two walks and two runs. Clark said he was also pleased with the plays his team made. “Defensively, I thought we did a nice job,” he said. “They hit the ball, especially in that one inning.”
Moore pitched the first five innings for RC, striking out six and allowing 10 hits, no walks and eight runs. In the final two innings, Zollman struck out one and surrendered three hits, four walks and two runs.
RC committed one error, while PM had none.
Reviewing the contest, Clark said, “It was a good game. Everybody got a good show.”
It was the second of three big wins in a row for the Blues, who had won at Covington 10-9 six days early, as the two teams battle for the Pioneer District title. The day after the win over the Wildcats, the Blues earned a dramatic 12-10 win over district rival Eastern Montgomery, enduring an unfortunate injury to Coleman. (See separate story).
Pelter said the Wildcats would focus on getting out of their slump and trying to win a couple more district games to stay in the race for a spot in the Region 3C tournament.
“They’re a good team,” said Clark of the Wildcats. “They never quit. They played hard.”
