Photo by Brian Hoffman
The James River softball team will play the first of three straight road games when they travel to Elliston to take on Eastern Montgomery in a non-district game today. River will be at Floyd County for a Three Rivers game next Tuesday, followed by a trip to Alleghany on April 26.
River played a couple of Patricks in the past week and went 1-1, defeating Patrick Henry but falling to Patrick County. River defeated Class 5 PH last Wednesday in Roanoke, 9-5, as the Knights put eight on the board in the first inning and held on.
Ripley Barry battled on the mound to get the complete game win for the Knights, striking out nine batters, walking seven and hitting two. The Patriots only managed four hits. Caitlyn Downey, Sydnee Breeding and Keira Crawford had two hits each for River.
On Monday in Springwood the Knights hosted new district member Patrick County and dropped a 2-1 decision in a well-played game. Patrick County pitcher McKenzie Holt pitched a two-hitter, striking out eight, walking four and hitting two batters.
“It was a really well played high school softball game,” said River coach Steve Austin. “They played flawless defense and we had a couple of hiccups that didn’t factor in. It’s another close game that we let get away, but it wasn’t for the lack of effort. We played hard and I’m proud of that.”
Barry threw a complete game four-hitter for River with seven strikeouts and four walks. Breeding had a double, a walk and a run scored while Downey had a single and a walk for River.
The Knights fell to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in the Three Rivers with the loss. The Cougars improved to 8-3, 3-1.
