Blues Go 2-1 In Softball

The Parry McCluer High School softball team came up short 7-6 at home against Buffalo Gap last Wednesday, but then bounced back by earning two home wins, 15-2 over Craig County on Thursday and 4-3 over Nelson County on Friday.

Despite a strong effort to come back from a 6-1 deficit, the Blues (8-3 overall, 6-1 district) couldn’t overcome Buffalo Gap.

The Blues scored five runs in the fourth inning against the Bison (12-2) to tie the game 6-6, with two-run hits by Payton Emore, Logan Vest and Autumn Mundy. However, BG scored the winning run in the top of the sixth when Caroline Alger hit a fly ball to center field to bring home Bailey Talley.

It was a much better performance from the Blues than in their 7-0 road loss to BG the previous Friday.

Early in Wednesday’s game, in their three-run second inning, the Bison got a two-run home run from Elissa Caricofe, who hit the ball over the left field fence.

Olivia Julian pitched a complete game for the Blues, striking out two while allowing 12 hits, three walks and seven runs.

“Olivia pitched well,” said PM head coach Troy Clark. “The one girl crushed that one. We’ve just got to make routine plays.”

Stepping up to make impressive plays in the field for PM was Emore at shortstop.

PM had a tough time against BG’s pitchers, who combined to throw 10 strikeouts. Rachel Showalter was the Bison’s starting pitcher before Alger pitched in relief.

“I was proud of the way they played in this one,” said PM head coach Troy Clark. “We made several errors, which is hurting us, but [my players] battled. They had good at-bats, even against [Alger]. She’s a really good pitcher. They had good at-bats against her. I can’t question our hustle and the way we’re getting after it. We’ve just got to fix some little things.”

PM 15, CC 2

The Blues coasted to a 15-2 home win in five innings over Pioneer District rival Craig County on Thursday.

With the win, PM completed a sweep of the regular-season series with the Rockets (2-7, 2-4). When the teams met on April 17 in New Castle, PM won 21-5.

In the rematch, the Blues scored first when Mundy hit a line drive double to bring home Emore. PM went up 2-0 when Julian drove in Munday.

Craig scored one run in the top of the second, but the Blues answered back with seven runs, scoring on hits by Emore, Vest, Mundy, Natalie Mohler, Gracey Shafer and Victoria Hamilton to make it 9-1.

PM added six more runs in the fourth to extend its lead to 15-2, scoring on hits by Hamilton and Emore.

Alysa Wheeler pitched a complete game for the Blues, striking out four

while allowing five hits, three walks and two runs.

PM 4, NC 3

PM concluded the week with a 4-3 nondistrict home win over Nelson County.

With the victory, the Blues completed a sweep of the regular-season series with the Governors (1-13). When the teams met on March 11 in Lovingston, PM won 15-11.

In the rematch, Julian hit a line drive double in the third inning to bring home Emore and Vest, giving PM a 2-0 lead.

Nelson answered in the fourth when Madlyn Case and Jodie Saunders each brought in a run with singles, tying the game 2-2.

In the sixth, Saunders doubled and then scored on an error, giving Nelson a 3-2 lead.

PM answered again in the bottom of the sixth when Kendall Painter scored after reaching second base on a line drive error in the outfield, which was followed by an overthrown ball on the same at-bat, tying the game 3-3.

In the bottom of the seventh, Emore doubled on a line drive down the left field line. Vest then laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Emore hustled from second base and beat the throw to home plate to score the winning run.

“I am so proud of this team,” said Clark. “This was the best game we played as a team all year. We hit when we needed to, played good defense, Olivia Julian showed toughness and pitched through an injury, and we finished with a little small ball and hustle to get the win.”

The Blues were scheduled to play host to Ridgeview Christian on Monday and will conclude the regular season today, Wednesday, when they play at Rockbridge County at 4 p.m., first finishing a game that was stopped by lightning on April 1 in Buena Vista, with the Wildcats leading 6-0 in the fifth inning. They’ll then play the second game of the season series. On Thursday, the Blues will play Eastern Montgomery at James River High School in Buchanan at 7:30 p.m. to determine the Pioneer District regular-season champion and the top seed in the district

tournament.