MC softball team drops doubleheader against Virginia Intermont
By Will Estep | (sports@thedailytimes.com)
The Maryville College Scots softball team opened up their home schedule on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader, and both games did not go the way the Scots planned as Virginia Intermont College picked up an 11-1 win in the first matchup and then a 6-3 victory in the second game.
In the final game of the day, the first three innings became a pitching duel as both Maryville’s Brittany Henry and the Cobras Rachel Watts pitched shutouts in the first three frames. Henry, a freshman making her home debut, later gave up a three-run home run to Megan Perry-Shifflett that gave the Bristol, Va., college a 4-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Henry was able to get out of the inning and her freshman teammate Lexie Randolph took over for the final three innings, giving up two runs with one of them being earned.
“Brittany Henry has been dominant on the mound for us coming in as a starter and as a reliever. Same with Lexie coming in as a very great reliever for us,” said third-year Maryville coach Kim Woodard. “She changes it up quite a bit and very proud of those two to come in and pitch as well as they did.”
After Virginia Intermont (6-10) went up 5-0 in the fifth inning, the Scots showed some signs of life on offense. In the bottom half of the fifth, Henry drove in first baseman Megan Lock with an RBI single to put the Scots on the board, trailing only 5-1. Senior cleanup hitter Leah Kelley led off the sixth with a solo home run cutting the deficit to 6-2 giving the Scots their first long ball of the season.
“She was due for a big hit like that to kind of boost her confidence for this season,” Woodard said. “She has a couple of really good hits for doubles, but to actually get the big one, I think that will open up her swings a lot better now that she’s got one under her belt. Hopefully, we will see a lot more with her with the home runs.”
Kelley finished the second game going 2-for-3 with one run, one RBI and one walk. She also hit a single in the seventh that kept the Scots alive. Maryville (3-9) had runners on the corners with Kelley on third and two outs, but the Scots grounded out to end the game as they had the tying run at the plate.
“That’s this whole year. We haven’t ever got down on ourselves to where if we get in a 5-0 hole at the beginning of the game or something, we have fought back and we have fought back in every game that we have gotten down,” Woodard said. “Very pleased that we did that. I just wish we could find the way to top over the top of it and just find the win.”
The first game did not start so well for the Scots. Alcoa native and Cobras second baseman Annamarie Russell hit a three-run home run that extended the Virginia Intermont lead to 5-0 before Maryville even had a chance to bat in the first inning. The game ended in the fifth when Maryville wasn’t able to score and Virginia Intermont picked up an 11-1 win. Hannah Youngdeer had the one RBI for the Scots in the first game. Playing at home for the first time this season may have been a factor for the Scots in the early innings of the first game.
“When we were warming up, they were nice and relaxed and they were ready to go it seemed. I guess once the lineups and stuff started and the national anthem started, their nerves got a hold of them and didn’t settle down fast enough,” Woodard said.
Maryville returns to play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. Saturday at home against LaGrange College.
