Photo by Brian Hoffman
Two red hot softball teams will go head-to-head Monday when James River and Lord Botetourt meet on the diamond at the Greenfield Recreation Complex. Game time is 7 p.m.
LB is coming off two big district wins last week and James River is 6-1 after defeating Bassett on Monday night in Springwood. The Knights won at Floyd County last Friday, 6-4, to knock the Buffaloes from the ranks of the unbeaten.
“It was a great win for us,” said River coach Steve Austin. “We started strong then just went ice cold in the middle of game, offensively. But during that slump we kept wrinkling out of jams and that gave us a chance at the end.”
The Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Keira Crawford singled in Caitlin Downey. Floyd County evened the score 1-1 in the bottom of the first but in the top of the second inning River went back ahead, 2-1. Laken Robinson singled to lead off and eventually scored on Downey’s two-out shot to right center field.
The score stayed like that until the bottom of the fourth. River starting pitcher Makenna Saville got into some serious trouble and reliever Robinson gave up a two-run double to Lilly Gillespie to put the Lady Buffalos ahead, 3-2. Floyd County added another run in the bottom of the sixth on a clutch RBI single by Emma Biesterveld, scoring Ava DeJesus.
Meanwhile, from the last out of the second inning to the end of the fifth inning, 10 straight Knights were retired by Biesterveld. However, with the bottom third of the batting order coming to the plate for the Knights in the top of the seventh, Robinson lined a two-strike single to right field. Karly Mines, also down 0-2, looped another single just over the second baseman’s glove and Robinson scored on an error. After a strikeout, Downey landed another RBI single to tie the game. Sydnee Breeding then lined a rope over the center field fence for her second home run of the year and that proved to be the winning hit.
In the bottom of the seventh, James River left fielder Kaylee Harlow robbed DeJesus of a lead off hit with a diving catch. After a quick line out to the second baseman, Harlow secured another catch in left to end the game.
Downey, Breeding, Crawford, Robinson, and Ella Hutchens all had two hits in the game for James River. Robinson was the winning pitcher in relief of Saville.
“Kaylee Harlow made that diving catch to keep momentum on our side to lead off the home half of the seventh,” said Austin. “She has made those catches multiple times in practice and she exemplifies the way our team is playing right now. Very gritty.”
On Monday James River had a seven-run third inning to jump start an 11-1, five-inning victory over Bassett in Springwood. Breeding capped off the big inning with a two-run home run, her second in as many games. Saville pitched four innings and picked up the win.
“I anticipated a bit of a let down after Friday evening’s emotional win but I think we mitigated the slow start pretty well,” said Austin. “We have a lot to play for so we have to take them one game at a time.”
The Knights were scheduled to host Patrick County on Tuesday and tonight Patrick Henry is here. River is home against Friday to host Carroll County followed by Monday’s game with LB and a trip to Radford next Tuesday.
