Photo by Leigh Downey
The James River softball team was one out away from earning a home game for this week’s Region 2C tournament. However, host Carroll County rallied to stun the Knights with a 9-8 walk-off win in Hillsville, spoiling River’s chances to open the region at home.
The region tournament begins on Thursday of this week and the Knights are the fifth seed. They’ll head to Ringgold to take on fourth seeded Dan River. The Wildcats passed River in the rankings when the Knights lost to Carroll, giving Dan River the home game this week.
Last week at Carroll County the Knights led 8-6 in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and no one on base. After two walks, only the second and third free passes issued by a Knight pitcher in the game, Carroll’s Addie Greene followed with clutch triple to the right center gap to tie the score. After an intentional walk, Greene scored on a wild pitch to stun the visitors for a 9-8 win.
Keira Crawford and Karly Mines led the Knights with two hits each. Caitlyn Downey, Crawford and Kaylee Harlow had two RBIs each while Crawford and Laken Robinson scored two runs.
With the tough loss James River slid to 14-7. Thursday’s winner will advance to the Region 2C semifinals on June 2 against the winner of a first round game between Appomattox and Glenvar. The semifinals and final, on June 4, will be played at the Botetourt Sports Complex.
