With both Aysha Richardson and Victoria Scott in the circle for Orange County and Monticello respectively, it wasn’t all that surprising that there were twice as many strike outs as hits. In fact, with both defenses on point, there were 12 total hits between these two experienced squds.
“These are two very good teams,” Hornets coach John Henry Rider put it simply. “There’s not going to be a whole lot (of hits) when we get together with them.”
But one of those hits happened to be a big one, and it was Mandi Murphy who came up with it. In the bottom of the second inning with Paige Pritchett on base, Murphy stepped into a hard thrown pitch and sent it flying out of the park and over the scoreboard in left field. That was all Orange needed, and although the Mustangs threatened with two outs in the top of the seventh, Richardson hung in there and her team walked off the field with a 2-0 win and a share of first place in the Jefferson District.
“I was just trying to make contact,” Murphy said of her big hit. “When you face Victoria you don’t know how many good pitches you’ll see.”
Once Orange was up, the game flew by. Both teams struggled to get the ball out of the infield, and even when they did, both outfields were quick to make the catch.
With their backs against the wall in the top of the seventh, Monticello picked up two quick outs but managed to follow up with a pair of singles from Scott and Lydia Neuroth. Both base runners advanced on a wild pitch but Richardson closed the door for good immediately after that with her 11th strikeout of the game.
“She’s amazing,” Ryder said. “She throws hard and does a great job out there. We got up and that was it. That’s softball.”
Monticello managed to out hit Orange but could not come up with a big base-knock in the clutch. Nonetheless, Mustangs coach Beth Humphrey is undeterred by the loss.
“I was proud of the way we fought out there,” Humphrey said. “I think that in the long run this is going to do us a lot of good. We’ll be able to learn from our mistakes in this game and apply it when it comes to playoff time.”
Scott struck out 14 batters and was 1 for 3 on the day at the plate.
The Mustangs (13-1, 8-1) host Fluvanna on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Hornets (11-2, 8-1) hosts Goochland on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
