The James River girls took advantage of 13 hits, four walks and six Patrick Henry errors to run away from the Class 5 Patriots, 19-1, in a softball game in Springwood last Thursday.
Sydnee Breeding paced the Knights with a grand slam home run, a triple, a double, a walk, six RBIs and four runs scored. Keira Crawford had three hits and three runs scored, Ella Hutchens had two hits and three runs scored and Andi Kreklow had two hits and two runs scored. Kaylee Harlow, Sierra Ware and Karly Mines had one hit each.
Makenna Saville pitched for the Knights and scattered four hits while allowing just one unearned run, striking out two and walking one. With the win the Knights improved to 10-5 overall.
“PH was short a couple of starters, which led to some errors for them that we didn’t see in our previous meeting,” said River coach Steve Austin. “We did hit the ball hard all evening and we played clean defense. Our pitcher threw strikes and was very efficient.”
The win followed a 9-6 Three Rivers District loss to Carroll County on May 6 at home.
“We responded well after the disappointing loss to Carroll County,” said Austin. “We want to put it on the line in these last six games and see what we can accomplish before region play begins.”
The Knights were rained out of a game with Glenvar on Monday and that will be made up next Monday, May 19. River was scheduled to play Radford at home on Tuesday followed by a trip to Patrick County this Friday and a rematch with Carroll County in Hillsville Saturday. That game is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Photos by Jenn King
