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18 May 2012
The Fluvanna county Lady Flucos and the Warriors from Western Albemarle were locked in a serious pitchers dual on Wednesday (May 16). With the score tied 2-2, the Flucos came to bat in the bottom of the seventh. All the Flucos needed was one run to end the game.
Head Coach Aime McCall decided to lead off the inning with a pinch hitter. She sent Sasha Morgan to the plate, and Morgan worked a walk. McCall then send Jessie Martin in to run for Morgan. The next Fluco batter struck out. This brought sophomore second baseman Lauren Hamshar to the plate. Hamshar had one hit to her credit already, as she got the games’ first hit in the bottom of the third with a line drive to left. This time Hamshar went the other way, clubbing a drive to right center that was just out of reach for the Warriors’ right fielder. As the ball rolled to the fence, Martin circled the bases to come in with the winning run, and Hamshar pulled into third with the game winning triple.
As noted earlier this game was dominated, from the start, by the opposing pitchers. The Warriors’ starter retired the first eight Flucos she faced. She struck out four, with a very impressive fast ball. For the Flucos, Senior Alex Fields used an impressive mix of pitches to keep the Warriors completely off stride, and she retired the first 13 batters. However, in the top of the fifth Western finally broke through with back to back singles to put their first runner in scoring position at second base. The next Warrior batter nailed a sinking line drive to short center field. Senior centerfielder Terra Foster charged in and made a shoestring catch, and promptly fired to second to double up the runner, and end the inning. This was the defensive play of the game.
In the bottom of the fifth the Flucos finally put some runs on the board. With one out, Foster worked a walk. After a pop fly to the pitcher, leadoff hitter Mindy Lawson lined a triple into the gap in right center, scoring Foster with the first run of the game. Lawson then scored on an error by the Warrior’s pitcher and the Flucos lead 2-0 after five.
Unfortunately, Western Albemarle came right back in the top of the sixth, with two runs of their own. Three singles and a wild pick-off throw combined to allow the Warriors to tie the score at 2-2. In the bottom of the sixth, the Flucos were up and down in order. The Warriors also went three and out, in the top of the seventh, as Fields returned to form and retired Western on three infield ground outs. This set the stage for Hamshar’s game winning triple in the bottom of the seventh. Both teams recorded only five hits in the game, but Western’s were all singles, while the Flucos had two triples that made the difference in the outcome.
The Fluco softball team ends its regular season with a record of 11-7, and a third place finish in the Jefferson District. Coach McCall’s prospects for the future look pretty bright. This game was played on senior night, and the team had only two seniors to honor, pitcher Alex Fields and centerfielder Terra Foster. All the rest of McCall’s players should be back next year, and the junior varsity softball team will be sending up a number of quality players next year, after posting a 15-2 record in the regular season. Fluco softball looks to be in pretty good shape for the near future
