Photos by Leigh Downey
Sophomore Kaylee Harlow had a single, double and triple and drove in five runs to lead James River to a 15-2, five-inning victory over Parry McCluer Monday evening in Springwood.
The Knights banged out 17 hits on opening day. Sydnee Breeding had three singles, an RBI and a run scored. Keira Crawford had three singles, two RBIs and two runs scored and freshman Paige Shotwell had two singles, a walk, and three runs scored. Cloey Joynes had two singles, an RBI and a run scored. Ella Hutchens had two singles and three runs scored. Caitlyn Downey had a triple, two RBIs and a run scored and freshman Sierra Ware had a single and a run scored.
“Parry McCluer got off to a rocky start when everything we hit seemed to fall in,” said River coach Steve Austin. “They are young with a small roster, like us and a lot of ball teams are this spring.”
Makenna Saville picked up the win for the Knights with four innings of one hit, shutout softball, striking out four and walking one. Ware pitched the fifth inning, allowing one earned run.
“It was a good start for us, no matter what,” said Austin. “We need to gain experience, too, and it’s never a bad thing to feel good about ourselves for a little while. We got a little sloppy late when we seemed to lose focus. We can learn from that.”
The Knights are back on the field Friday in Buena Vista when they play Parry McCluer again. Then they’re off until March 31 when Waynesboro comes here.
“This year’s team is young and lacking experience in a couple of key positions that you don’t want to be young and inexperienced in,” said Austin. “We have seven returning players who got significant playing time last year and we also have four freshmen to complete our roster but our lone senior is Cloey Joynes. Our modest goals are to compete hard in every game and to qualify for post season play, then see where we can go from there.”
