With the quantity of baserunners it was getting, it felt as though it was only a matter of time before Orange County put up a big inning. Already comfortably ahead, that big surge came in the bottom of the fifth as the Hornets took down visiting William Monroe in walkoff run-rule fashion 10-0.
“It’s what pretty slow to start, we left a lot of runners on base but Monroe was making plays on defense and there’s nothing you can do about that,” said Orange coach John Henry Ryder. “I told them just to keep hitting and keep hitting and something will happen.”
That breakthrough came in the bottom of the fifth. Already up 5-0, the Hornets made the Greene Dragons pay for an error and three walks. After an RBI ground out from Haley Jones drove in the first of five runners that would reach home in the inning, the bases were loaded for Jackie Colero. The fifth hitter the lineup cleared the bases when she put a flare that got behind the Monroe defense in right field to amount to a 3-run triple.
“It’s really important for me that when I get up to bat that I’ve got my mind clear and not think about a lot,” Collero said. “I have a vision of what I want to do before hand. You’ve got to do something because once you do, everyone else comes through too.”
Two batters later, Lindsey Aylor brought home the game clinching run on a single.
Orange built it’s lead in the first off of an RBI single from Cllero. The Hornets made it 3-0 in the bottom of the third with a bases loaded walk followed by a sacrifice fly from Brianna Nicely.
In the bottom of the fourth the Hornets added two more runs thanks to a pair of throwing errors. After a single from Jones, Micahlah Sacre singled as well, but her aggressive base running force an errant throw to the outfield to score Jones. In the same sequence of events another throwing error was made clearing the way for Sacre to score.
Aysha Richardson and Sacre combined for the shutout. Richardson threw the first four innings giving up just two hits and a walk to six strikeouts. Sacre took over in the top of the fifth to strike out the side on just 10 pitches.
Monroe put runners in scoring position just twice. Kacey Thomas led off the game with a single and stole second but was unable to score. In the fourth an error and a single from Katelyn Roach put runners on first and second but again, Richardson retired the next three batters she faced to keep the shutout in tact.
Orange (8-0, 6-0) travels to Fluvanna County on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Monroe travels to Western Albemarle on Monday at 5 p.m.
