‘We just didn’t play well’

By Nathan Warters

Published: May 27, 2008

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.
The resulting 9-3 win for the Blazers pulled them one win closer to making their first state playoff appearance in almost three decades, and it ended an otherwise magical season for the homestanding Bees.
“We didn’t play as well as we had been playing the last month. Too many errors. We didn’t hit the ball. Their pitcher (Molly Smith) did a good job of changing speeds,” said Larry Kidd, who coached his last game as Brookville’s softball coach. “We just didn’t play well.”
Brookville (13-6), the Seminole District regular-season champion, appeared to have playoff jitters from the outset. It committed eight errors, opening the door in three of Spotswood’s four big innings.
Two errors contributed to the Blazers’ three-run first.
Two miscues prolonged their two-run fourth, and two more errors in the seventh led to two runs.
Spotswood (14-9) also scored a run on a wild pitch in the first inning.
“I was surprised by their mistakes, but I was really happy with our short game,” Spotswood coach Bob Lewellen said. “We haven’t done that a lot. We have some strong kids and we hit the ball to the grass most of the time.
“What really got us going was some bunts and getting the ball on the ground and moving runners.”
The Blazers played their second game in two days after beating Stuarts Draft 8-2 Monday in the Region III first round.
They advance to play Northside on Thursday in the region semifinals at Harrisonburg High School. A win in that game will earn them a trip to the state playoffs for the first time since the early ’80s.
Smith, who pitched a complete game on Monday, went six innings against the Bees, yielding three runs on four hits. She struck out seven.
“I knew Molly was going to give us some quality innings. I didn’t know she was going to give us six. I was hoping for four,” Lewellen said.
The Blazers allowed a total of six base runners. Brookville senior catcher Summer Jones, who made a diving tag out of Spotswood’s Caline Rexrode at home plate in the top of the seventh, reached base on a single and a bunt.
Bees first baseman Beth Tyree hit a solo home run over the left field fence in the fourth to cut Spotswood’s lead to 7-3.
But the Blazers scored two more times in the seventh, aided by a couple more Brookville miscues.
“We gave them about seven or eight extra outs, and you can’t do that against good teams,” said Kidd, who takes over as Brookville’s athletic director in July.
“When you give teams like that extra outs, you’re going to pay the price.”