Wolford fires a no-hitter in Bull Run final
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Clarke County’s Lauren McCabe slides under the tag of Riverheads catcher Beth Danich Monday. The tournament game was suspended.
RICK FOSTER/Byrd Newspapers |
By Ben Brooks
The Clarke Courier
BERRYVILLE — The Clarke County High School softball team took advantage of some sporadic Madison County defense to win Thursday’s Bull Run District tournament championship game.
Not that the Eagles needed the help.
Clarke County senior pitcher Jordan Wolford saw to that. The district Player of the Year tossed a no-hitter and struck out 12 batters in Clarke County’s 4-0 victory over the Mountaineers.
Wolford’s velocity and pin-point accuracy simply overpowered the Mountaineers, who hit just two balls out of the infield. Wolford walked two, and the closest thing to a hit came in the fifth inning. Madison’s Caitlyn Ford lofted a ball into shallow left field. Megan Nelson got to the ball in plenty of time, but she overran it slightly and the ball dropped just behind her.
“We’ve been working a lot on trying to keep the batters off balance,” Wolford said. “Our focus today was getting that first pitch for a strike. After that, we could make them go after everything else.”
The victory was Clarke’s third over Madison this season and second in the past week. The two teams split two regular-season games. The Eagles then edged the Mountaineers last week 2-1 in a one-game playoff to determine the tournament’s top seed.
“I think this showed without a doubt who the best team (in the district) was this season,” Eagles coach Susan Grubbs said. “If they had won today, there probably would have been some doubt.”
Clarke got all the scoring it needed in the first inning. Amy Hagerdon reached on a two-out infield hit and scored on an outfield error.
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Clarke County shortstop Amy Hagerdon fields a ball as second baseman Lauren McCabe gets out of the way last week against Manassas Park. The Eagles won 6-1. RICK FOSTER/Byrd Newspapers |
The Eagles added two more runs in the second. With Ashley Thorpe on second, Lauren McCabe grounded to the left side. Madison shortstop Casey Racer tried to get Thorpe going to third base, but her throw was low and got past third baseman Cara McLurry. Thorpe got up and raced home. Megan Nelson then doubled to right to score McCabe with Clarke’s third run.
Wolford and Madison’s Jordan Aylor dominated the rest of the way, although the Eagles manufactured a run in the fifth when Sam Herndon walked, advanced to second on Hagerdon’s sacrifice, and scored on Tara Field’s two-out single.
“We made some mistakes,” Madison County coach Tim Taylor said as he looked toward the scoreboard. “It probably should have been a 1-0 game. But it wouldn’t have mattered the way she was pitching.”
Taylor didn’t hold back in his praise of the Eagles. He said he wouldn’t be surprised to see them reach the state tournament.
“They’re very fundamentally sound,” he said. “I’d rank Clarke County right up there.”