Photo by Brian Hoffman
The James River girls have their work cut out for them with three tough district softball games in three days. The Knights were scheduled to host Carroll County on Tuesday, Glenvar is here today and on Thursday the girls are at Radford for their third Three Rivers District game of the week.
It’s a tough time for a tough schedule, as River comes into the week hoping to snap a rare four-game losing streak. Last week the Knights fell to 3-7 overall and 0-5 in the district with losses to Floyd County and Alleghany.
Last Tuesday, April 23, the girls dropped a 7-1 game at Floyd. Lilly Gillespie of Floyd hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first to set the tone and Emma Biesterveld pitched a three hitter for the Buffalo gals.
Ripley Barry pitched for River and allowed seven runs, but only two were earned. Makenna Saville pitched two perfect innings in relief.
“We got up there a little late and never seemed to catch up to game speed,” said River coach Steve Austin. “The first inning was a microcosm of our season to date. We let the leadoff hitter get on, then turned a beautiful 4-6-3 double play. Two batters later, we made one mistake that opened the door for four unearned runs. All with two outs and none on.”
On Friday at Alleghany the Knights fell to the host Cougars, 8-3. Four Knight errors led to five unearned runs in the loss.
After the Cougars took the lead, 1-0, in the bottom of the first inning the Knights went ahead in the top of the third, 2-1. Jalen Thompson singled to lead off rally and was sacrificed to second by Audrey Benson. Pinch hitter Kaylee Harlow, replacing injured Caitlyn Downey, reached on an error. Abbie Wilson and Ripley Barry followed with RBI singles, putting James River ahead.
Alleghany coupled three hits and two River errors to reclaim the lead in bottom of third, 4-2. The game settled down until four late Alleghany runs and a Barry solo home run set the final score.
Barry’s two hits and two RBIs led the Knights. Wilson, Benson, Thompson, Keira Crawford, Cloey Joynes, Ella Hutchens and Jennah Lynch had one hit apiece. Saville pitched a complete game for James River.
“I thought our effort was good against one of the top teams on our schedule,” said Austin. “Makenna Saville has come back from an early season injury to get more pitching time. This was her first start and the stat line is somewhat deceiving. Only three runs were earned and there were several infield hits. She gave us a chance.”
