The Lord Botetourt girls climbed back over the .500 mark with their biggest softball win of the season last Friday. The Cavaliers shut out defending state champion William Byrd, 7-0, in Daleville.
“I am proud of our team for stepping up to the challenges put on them at practice as we prepared for William Byrd,” said coach Cheryl Shockley. “Byrd beat us in the bottom of the seventh inning last time so our practices had many pressure situation drills to prepare them for the game. Our defense played well, Giana Sloan-Lebron had a great game at shortstop and our catcher, Audrey Butler, called a phenomenal game behind the plate.”
Botetourt took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, then added two more runs in the fifth. Maddie Carroll drove the ball to the left center field fence to bring home two runs for a 3-0 lead.
LB put the game out of reach with a four-run bottom of the sixth. Sloan-Lebron led off with a double, followed by a Hailey Deter double. Carsen Brake lined one to left field and Makena Shupe smashed a double. A couple batters later Audrey Butler drove in two more runs for a 7-0 lead.
Rhyann Jones allowed just two hits to pick up the win for LB. She struck out five and walked none. That followed a no-hitter on May 25 against William Fleming, as Rhyann struck out 14 of a possible 15 outs. Only one ball was put in play and that was a 6-3 ground out as LB won by slaughter rule, 21-0.
Jones also had two hits against Fleming. Halle Reese had four hits against the Colonels and Sloan-Lebron, Shupe Carroll and Jackson Kemper joined Jones with two knocks apiece.
The two wins improved Botetourt’s season record to 4-3 overall. The Cavaliers are at Franklin County Friday and at Northside next Tuesday, June 8.
