RC Softball Ends Season

Wildcats Shut Out By Gobblers, Eagles

Wrapping up a rebuilding year, the Rockbridge County High School softball team ended its season with a pair of 10-0 losses to Valley District rivals, falling at Broadway last Wednesday and at home against East Rockingham on Thursday.

Broadway (15-5,8-4), which advanced to this week’s Region 3C tournament, racked up 16 hits in the rematch while holding the Wildcats (5-15, 1-11) to three.

The Gobblers took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Tayor Suters singled on a bunt to third base to drive in two runs.

In the second, Broadway added four runs, scoring three runs on two errors and the fourth when Madalyn Wolfe singled to center field to bring home Suters.

The Gobblers made it 8-0 in the third by scoring on a single by Kaleigh Harper and a double by Jasmine Gett-Dove. Broadway went up 9-0 in the fourth when Emma Morris singled to bring home Jenna Williams, and Wolfe scored on an RC error in the sixth to end the game early due to the 10-run mercy rule.

For the game, the Wildcats committed three errors while the Gobblers had none. Despite the errors, RC head coach Keston Pelter said, “We had some great plays defensively.”

Wolfe led Broadway with four hits, while four Gobblers added two hits each. Recording one hit apiece for the Wildcats were Bella Dorey, Page Wright and Marla Zollman.

Broadway’s Lilah Divers earned the shutout win on the mound, striking out 12 while allowing three hits in six innings.

Sophomore Sadie Moore pitched a complete game for RC, striking out four while surrendering the 16 hits, no walks and 10 runs (six earned).

ER 10, RC 0

The Wildcats finished the season with a 10-0 home loss to East Rockingham on Thursday in Lexington.

The Eagles (7-13, 3-9), who had beaten RC 4-1 on April 23 in Elkton, racked up 18 hits in the rematch while holding the Wildcats to six.

“We hit the ball well,” said Pelter. “We had hard hits, but those girls were on it. We hit right to players, [but] their hits fell in gaps.”

ER, which advanced to the Region 3C tournament, took a 1-0 lead in the first when Bre-Ann Malin singled on a hard grounder to shortstop to bring home Emily Campbell. The Eagles made it 2-0 in the second when Malin doubled on a fly ball to left field to drive in Campbell.

In the third, the Eagles erupted for five runs to extend their lead to 7-0. They scored one run on an error, one on a fielder’s choice, and three on singles.

ER made it 8-0 in the sixth when Isabelle Cubbage grounded out to bring home Sierra Custer.

The Eagles’ final two runs came in the seventh. Malin doubled on a fly ball to left field to drive in Campbell, and Custer singled on a fly ball to center field to bring home Malin.

The Wildcats got in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh when Willow Rogers singled on a grounder to shortstop to move Cameron Terry to third base, but the Eagles ended the game with a groundout.

Malin led ER with four hits and four RBIs, while Custer and Caroline Eppard each had three hits.

Wright paced the Wildcats with two hits, while Zollman, Moore, Rogers and Gabriella Brown each recorded one hit.

Kiersten Shifflett pitched a complete game to earn the shutout win for the Eagles, striking out three while allowing six hits and one walk.

On the mound for a complete game for RC was Moore, striking out eight while surrendering 18 hits, no walks and 10 runs (six earned).

RC committed two errors while ER had one.

Before the game, the Wildcats honored Zollman, their lone senior. Zollman, a third baseman, outfielder and pitcher, will also be remembered for her powerful and timely hitting. On May 8, Zollman hit a home run and walk-off single to lift the Wildcats to a 3-2 win over local rival Parry McCluer.

“We will miss Marla,” said Pelter. “I’ve coached her for as long as I’ve been coaching at RCHS. I started coaching her during my time coaching basketball, [and] she played a couple seasons for me. She then has played softball for me for as long as I’ve been [head coach of] the softball program.”

Zollman will pursue a career as a nurse. “She is a natural caretaker,” said Pelter. “I am looking forward to seeing her meet her goals in her postsecondary journey.”

Reflecting on the year, Pelter, who wraps up her fifth year at the helm for the Wildcats, said, “I have enjoyed this season. This is a really talented group of girls. They have a great skill set for softball.”

Although wins were hard to come by this spring, the Wildcats did have several memorable ones, including twice beating PM and earning their lone Valley District win in a 5-4 comeback road victory over Harrisonburg on April 24.

The Wildcats were a young team this year, with two juniors and eight sophomores.

Looking ahead to the future, Pelter said, “I challenged them “to take time during the offseason and work on getting better in their respective areas that they felt they individually needed to work on to improve on. We (coaches) also told them that we were looking for someone or several to step up and be leaders for the team next year, to be vocal and encourage the girls and push them to do their very best each day.”