The Virginia High School League spring season blew in on a cold day Monday with mixed results for James River teams. The baseball team dropped a game at Salem but the boys soccer team opened with a 3-1 win over Auburn in Riner.
“Conditions were less than favorable but we got the season open,” said River soccer coach Jared Whiting. “We started off a little flat but by the second half we started playing with purpose. Our possession game dominated the second half with a lot of movement and vision.
“A strong effort was made by the entire roster. These guys have the desire at game time to leave it all on the field. We have some holes to fix, we have some changes to make, and we have some more work to do before the next game but all in all I was very pleased with the season opener.”
River lost 11 players from last year’s team but Whiting is optimistic, nonetheless.
“We have lots of new faces this year but I feel we will be very competitive with the crew we have,” he said.
River’s next game is Monday, March 20, when the Knights host Eastern Montgomery in the home opener in Springwood.
At Salem, the River baseball team dropped a 9-3 game to the home-standing Spartans at Billy Sample Field. The Knights jumped on top 3-0 in the top of the first inning and had the lead when starter Heath Andrews hit his pitch limit, but it was all downhill from there.
Andrews pitched three and a third innings to open the season and allowed just one hit while striking out six. Zeal Hammons came on in relief and took the loss while struggling to find the plate on a cold day.
River’s next game is Friday at Amherst.
The softball team will open Saturday at noon at the Botetourt Sports Complex when the Knights play Jefferson Forest. River returns seven full time starters from last year’s 16-5 team and three promising freshmen have moved up from the jayvee team.
Five seniors lead this year’s team– pitcher Austyn Moran, catcher Kaycee Kincaid, shortstop Lexi McCullough, center fielder Jenna Pugh and utility player Elly Lackey. Lackey played seven different positions for the Knights last year.
Junior outfielder/first baseman Ripley Barry and sophomore third baseman Cloey Joynes are the other full-time starters from the 2022 team. The three other juniors are Abbie Wilson, Marley Huddleston, and Makayla Petty. Freshmen Sydnee Breeding, Keira Crawford and Caitlyn Downey are versatile and athletic.
“We’ll play a challenging schedule with 12 of the 20 games slated against teams 3A or higher,” said coach Steve Austin.
The girls soccer team will open Friday at Nelson County. This is the first year River is fielding a jayvee team.
“I am pretty excited about that,” said coach Bill Smith. “It will help get more players on the field and will enhance the quality of the program over the coming seasons.”
River has a young varsity team this year with only two seniors, Natalie Hughes and Haylee Harris.
“They looked really good in preseason practice,” said Smith. I feel confident we will recover well from a tough season last year.”