Four E.C. Glass varsity head coaches have stepped down and their successors named for the 2008-09 school year while four others recently received Western Valley District coach of the year honors this spring.

RADFORD — With teammates closing in on her from all parts of the Radford University field, and even more hopping the low wall of their dugout to join the mob, Teresa Dalton’s traditionally stoic composure on the mound finally broke.

RADFORD — An hour after striking out 13 batters and pitching a two-hit shutout against Glenvar in Saturday’s Group A softball state final, Gretna senior Teresa Dalton sat in the bullpen, soaking up some sun while holding her arm in an ice-packed sling.

RADFORD — Rather than graduating in the football stadium with the rest of their class at 9 this morning, the six seniors on Gretna’s softball team will celebrate their commencement at home plate at Radford University, prior to the first pitch of their Group A state championship game against Glenvar at 10 a.m.

Gretna senior Teresa Dalton pitched Diamond Fever to a Pony National World Series championship the summer before her sophomore year and Sudden Impact into the NSA World Series before her junior year.

GRETNA — Standing on third, representing the winning run in Tuesday’s Group A state quarterfinal against Middlesex, Gretna’s Ceseley Haynes had the green light from coach Ketina Brooks.

If it’s good to know your enemy, Gretna’s softball team could be in trouble for today’s Group A state quarterfinal against Middlesex (17-3) starting at 5 p.m.

HARRISONBURG — High winds and high drama marked the final day of the Group AA state track and field championships at Harrisonburg High.
Brookville’s boys team received a second individual title from Ethan Nixon and repeated its runner-up indoor team finish to Western Albemarle.

HARRISONBURG — Brookville senior Ethan Nixon couldn’t have asked for a better first day at Friday’s Group AA state track and field championships at Harrisonburg High.

Region III boys and girls track and field champions Brookville and Heritage, respectively, consider themselves legitimate contenders for Group AA state titles today and Saturday at Harrisonburg High.

VINTON — Facing Blue Ridge District regular-season champion Northside, a team it beat 6-0 in the 2006 Region III semifinals and 3-0 in a preseason scrimmage, Jefferson Forest’s boys soccer team was the prohibitive favorite in Thursday’s Region III rematch.

AMHERST — Jefferson Forest was in a giving mood again on Thursday in the Cavaliers’ Region III baseball semifinal against Waynesboro at Amherst High School.

Jefferson Forest senior Josh Ranowsky came up just short in Wednesday’s Region III boys’ singles tennis tournament against Rockbridge County’s Dominik Lehmann.

FOREST — Seminole District player of the year Tim Bullock showcased some fancy footwork with his flashy orange soccer shoes, Tuesday night at home in Jefferson Forest’s 5-2 Region III quarterfinal win over Harrisonburg.

FOREST — Jefferson Forest junior Cameron DeWitt showed in Tuesday’s Region III girls soccer quarterfinal against Robert E. Lee that she can finish an assist and dish one out.

FOREST — Jefferson Forest certainly made things a lot harder on itself than it needed to Tuesday in the Region III playoffs.
The Cavaliers committed eight errors that led to four unearned runs, but JF managed to pull out a dramatic 9-8 victory over visiting Northside in the bottom of the ninth to advance to Thursday’s Region III quarterfinals.

Going into Tuesday’s Group AAA state quarterfinal boys tennis match at E.C. Glass, the only team the host Hilltoppers or Deep Run had lost to this spring was Colonial District and Central Region champion Mills Godwin, this year’s state tournament favorite.

Spotswood’s softball team may have played its best game of the season Tuesday in the Region III quarterfinals. It’s opponent, Brookville, may have played its worst.

GRETNA — Hitting into a triple play to end the first inning of a Region B playoff game might cause some softball coaches to throw a fit.
But Gretna coach Ketina Brooks reacted with a smile, Monday at home against Randolph-Henry in the Hawks’ first regional appearance since 2002.

For the last two weeks, E.C. Glass’ girls soccer team has devoted an extra 20 minutes in practice to penalty kicks. The players run wind sprints for 15 minutes to simulate the fatigue of an overtime game and then take aim at the goal.

Stuarts Draft’s baseball team wasted no time in making itself at home in the Hill City during its first round Region III tournament game at Heritage.
The Cougars pounded the Pioneers (16-7) for 10 hits, including two homers and nine runs in the first two innings, advancing to today’s 5 p.m. quarterfinal game at Alleghany with a 12-7 victory.

FOREST — The biggest concern for Jefferson Forest boys soccer coach Jedd Zaring this spring was shoring up a defensive line depleted by graduation.
He recruited two forwards — Jordan Smith and Andrew Dempsey, the team’s second-leading scorer last year — and backup goalkeeper Kyle Wachenheim as stopgap defenders.

With the Region III girls track and field team championship in the balance, the anchor runners from Brookville, Heritage and Turner Ashby crashed across the finish line simultaneously in Saturday’s meet-ending 1,600-meter relay at Liberty University.

FOREST — One hundred minutes of soccer wasn’t enough to decide Friday night’s Seminole District girls championship game between host Jefferson Forest and Staunton River.

Heritage entered Friday’s Seminole District baseball championship having scored a combined 31 runs in the first two games of the tournament, including a 22-6 defeat of Rustburg on Wednesday in the semifinal.

Of the nine baseball, softball and boys and girls soccer championship games to be waged tonight in the Dogwood, Seminole and Western Valley Districts, only one — Nelson County’s baseball game at Chatham — is do or die.

Regular-season champion Brookville (12-4) got a couple fortunate bounces in the second inning of its 3-0 win over Liberty (13-7), which was delayed for 30 minutes before the start of the seventh when Bees catcher Summer Jones passed out twice in the dugout.

It’s been an uneventful three weeks for the E.C. Glass girls soccer team.

Will Poats scored the tying goal 40 seconds into the second half, and Hodges Berry tallied the game-winner on a header 13 minutes later as E.C. Glass’s boys soccer team beat George Washington 3-2 in the Western Valley District tournament semifinals Wednesday at City Stadium.

Jefferson Forest’s Trevor Johnston (5-2) picked up the win for the Cavaliers by holding Amherst to just an earned run over six innings in Jefferson Forest’s 9-1 victory over the Lancers on Wednesday in the Seminole District tournament semifinals at Heritage.