Louisa County came into its meeting with Monticello walking on injury eggshells. It was a pivotal battle for a pair of teams trying to keep pace with Orange County and Powhatan in the Jefferson District. The Mustangs had won five of their last six and the Lions bounced back after their first two JD losses to the Hornets and Indians with a win over Western. In a game that teetered with Monticello looking comfortable and Louisa capitalizing after a tough start, the Lions got plenty of offense to give an unlikely starting pitcher her first ever varsity win, in an 8-5 victorious effort.
“Sometimes it takes a while to get warmed up but once we start feeling it we bounce off each other and get excited,” said Louisa coach Jennifer Falin.
The Mustangs drew first blood with Makysha Brock delivering an RBI double in the bottom of the second. After squandering a pair of opportunties in the first and second, the Lions tied things up in the third when Kennadie Batchelor scored from third on a wild pitch after she reached on a walk and was moved over on a ground ball and an error. Monticello answered with a pair of RBI singles from Haley Brown and Brock to go up 3-1.
“Brock is one of those hitters that looks for her chances and she doesn’t go out of the zone, she makes pitchers bring it to her,” said Monticello coach Beth Humphrey. “That makes her such a good disciplined hitter for us.”
It was a play at the plate changed the game for good in the top of the fourth. Sophomore Taylor Dickerson singled and then stole home after two-straight walks that would have loaded the bases. In the play at the plate, she and Monticello pitcher Emily Clifford made contact and it resulted in the Mustangs ace leaving the game with a strained hand. A bases loaded walk and 2-run double for Morgan Mitchell suddenly put the Lions up 6-3.
“There wasn’t a lot of movement on the pitches but they were being thrown hard,” Mitchell said. “We took advantage of what we could could. We’ve had some beneficial practices lately too, that really helped. This was a big step for us and we’re going to try and keep improving from here.”
Brooke Crawford cut the Louisa lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the fifth with her RBI single. The Lions picked up some insurance in the top of the sixth though as Mitchell came through with a 2-run single to make it 8-4.
“They hit the ball, swung aggressively and so credit to them but losing Emily is a game changer for us,” Humphrey said. “We didn’t die though, we stayed aggressive too so I have to applaud our kids for that.”
In the bottom of the sixth, Brown hit an RBI double for Monticello to make it 8-5, but the Mustangs went down in order in the seventh to end the threat and wrap up the win for the Lions.
Pitching a complete game win in her first ever varsity start was Louisa’s Julia O’Reilly. The freshman was called up from the JV ranks after Louisa standout Hannah Fletcher went down with injury last week.
“Today was her first varsity start, so we’re so excited for her,” Falin said of O’Reilly. “She got thrown into this (situation) where we just needed her because I pitched Taylor Robinson yesterday. We’re taking things one game at a time and have played a lot of good opponents right now but this was a big win. We’ve struggled a bit against the better teams so this was a good change.”
Louisa (8-4, 4-2) travels to Albemarle for the second meeting between the two in six days on Thursday. The Lions won the first bout over the Patriots 4-1.
Monticello (6-5, 4-2) hosts Western Albemarle on Thursday.
