Photos by Leigh Downey
The bats are coming alive for the James River softball team. The Knights took a four-game winning streak into Tuesday’s home game with Carroll County and River scored double-figure runs in all four wins.
Last Thursday, River went on the road for the third time in four days and came away with a 17-5 victory over the Little Giants in Waynesboro. Caitlyn Downey, Ella Hutchens, Keira Crawford, Kaylee Harlow and Paige Shotwell all had hits for the Knights, while Harlow led the way with four RBIs. Sierra Ware pitched two and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief to pick up the victory.
“This was a Twilight Zone game,” said River coach Steve Austin. “We found ourselves a couple of innings in. They were outhitting us and we were impatient at the plate. We turned three double plays, two of them early, that helped us stay in touch until we got things going.”
Two days prior, the Knights traveled to Floyd County for a big Three Rivers District game and took a 13-10 win. Trailing 6-2 in the top of the fifth inning the Knights loaded the bases with no outs. Lone James River senior Cloey Joynes then hit a grand slam home run to straight center field to tie the game up at 6-6. Harlow later put the Knights ahead, 7-6, with an RBI line drive single off of the right center field fence.
The Lady Buffalos scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to knot the score up at 7-7 but, in the top of the sixth, Andi Kreklow walked to lead off the inning and Downey singled hard to center. Sydnee Breeding doubled to left center, scoring pinch runner Karly Mines, and Joynes followed with a sacrifice fly to score Downey.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Floyd County, now trailing 9-7, scored one run and had the bases loaded with one out. River gambled and pulled the infield in and was rewarded with a 5-2-3 double play to escape the inning still leading, 9-8.
After a quiet top of the seventh inning, Floyd made some noise and tied the game, 9-9, setting up extra innings. Shotwell was the Knights International Tie-Breaker runner, starting on second base, and Mines sacrifice bunted and reached on a throwing error, allowing Shotwell to score. One out later, Breeding hit her sixth home run of the season. Joynes followed with a double and scored on a Crawford double, putting River ahead 13-9.
Ware faced only four batters in the bottom of the eighth, allowing James River to escape with another come-from-behind win. Sierra pitched seven innings of relief to get the pitching win. Breeding, continuing her recent torrid pace, collected four more hits, including four RBIs. Harlow, also on a hot streak, had three hits. Downey, Joynes, and Crawford had two hits each.
“We got contributions from our entire roster,” said Austin. “This was definitely a team effort.”
The big week put River at 9-4 overall pending a Tuesday game with Carroll. River is home to Patrick Henry Thursday for a non-district game. Next week they have home district games with Glenvar and Radford on Monday and Tuesday.
