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Loudoun Valley Softball Is Through to Finals
By Katie Carrera
Saturday, June 6, 2009
As the innings ticked away in the Virginia AAA softball state semifinal Saturday, Loudoun Valley lived on the edge. Mired in a scoreless battle of wills between pitchers and defenses with South County, the Vikings were the first to show signs of the pressure.
Two uncharacteristic errors put runners in scoring position in the fifth inning and two more South County batters reached in the sixth, but the Vikings escaped both jams.
"These are the games that I live for," Loudoun Valley pitcher Caroline Williams said. "They don't really happen a lot but it's a good adrenaline rush. It had me a little bit nervous, though. Pretty much all we needed was one hit."
Williams came through in the bottom of the sixth with that one well-placed hit - an RBI single to deep center field - that finally broke the stalemate, scored catcher Karli Johnson-Kemp for what proved to be the winning run in Loudoun Valley's 2-0 win over South County at Westfield High School.
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Loudoun Valley Reaches AAA Softball Final
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Loudoun Valley defeats South County in the Virginia AAA state softball semifinals, 2-0. Valley's Karli Johnson Kemp scores the winning run and celebrates with teammate Ashleigh Miller. This bottom-of-the-sixth score came about on a Caroline Williams's hit to make the score 1-0 at the time. (John McDonnell)
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Loudoun Valley's Caroline Williams pitched a shutout during their semifinal game against South County. Valley won, 2-0. (John McDonnell)
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During the bottom of the 6th, Loudoun Valley's Jamie Crisp is safe sliding back into first base, as South County's firt baseman Kayla Reisinger falls on her. (John McDonnell)
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The Vikings (24-4) will now try to capture their third state crown and head back to the championship game for the first time since 2005, when they won the AA title.
But to reach the final, Loudoun Valley had to overcome nerves that started to show in the fifth inning. When a routine ground ball to first turned into an error that put a runner on, the Vikings looked jittery. Two batters later, a throwing error allowed South County (27-2) runners to advance to third and second with two outs, and prompted Loudoun Valley Coach Joe Spicer to emerge from the dugout.
"I thought we were trying a little too hard," Spicer said. "I told them just to focus on our mechanics. Our emotions today were running really high. This was a tough game to get to the finals in a lot of ways."
Gaining the final out was no problem for Williams though, who struck out the next Stallions batter swinging with just three pitches to end the inning. She would need her composure again in the sixth to strike out a batter, then force a fly ball to left field that stranded two more South County runners.
With two runners in scoring position and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Williams made sure she would have a lead in the seventh with her RBI single to put Loudoun Valley up 1-0. Hailey Tretick scored on an error to make it 2-0, and put the Vikings precisely where they like to be - with the game in Williams's right hand.
Williams recorded her seventh strikeout of the game and forced easy outs to right field and the shortstop for a quick final three outs.
"The umpire seemed to be jamming me and [South County pitcher] Chelsea [Dunham] both," Williams said. "South County's got a pretty good lineup and I knew they had the power to hit it over the fence so I just had to keep it low."
Notes: The Vikings will take on Great Bridge Sunday at 4 p.m. at Westfield for the Virginia AAA title. Great Bridge defeated Prince George, 2-0, yesterday.
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