7th inning run lifts Midlothian into state softball tourney

There’re no guarantees. None. Certainly not at playoff time.

Take your opponent lightly, and your season will most assuredly come to an inglorious end.

That was the message, plain and simple, that Midlothian softball coach Mark Whitt preached to his team as its Region 5C semifinal matchup with Clover Hill approached.

Though they’d defeated the Cavaliers twice during the regular season, the Trojans listened well, they took him at his word, and when the outcome weighed in the balance Tuesday, they delivered.

Man, did they deliver!

With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Giana Caranante hit a single to shallow right field.

Midlo stalwart Erika Fiege followed with a clutch double down the left field line sending Caranante to third.

Next up was senior Charlotte Corcoran, who with the infield in dropped a picture-perfect bunt down the first base line allowing Caranante, who broke with the pitch, to race home, then slide under the tag with the winning run.

The Trojans’ 3-2 victory, no easy feat on this bright, clear evening, propels them into Friday’s 5C championship game on the road against the top seeded Matoaca Warriors, who defeated No. 4 Franklin County 8-1 in the other semifinal.

“As soon as the playoffs begin, it’s a whole new season,” said Whitt, whose team, the No. 2 seed, improved to 19-3. “Records don’t matter. No matter how good you are, you have to show up every single night,”

“(Being better) on paper doesn’t mean anything. You play the game for a reason. It’s won or lost on the field.”

From the beginning, the visiting No. 6 Cavaliers (12-8) served notice that they would be no pushover.

“We weren’t in any pre-season or mid-season ranking,” said Clover Hill coach Matt Trinite. “We just continued to fight and battle, and when we got to playoff time, the girls who have been there before took the reins of this team.

“It showed Friday when we upset (No. 3) Deep Run (4-1 in eight innings). We brought that in today and almost knocked off the defending (Class 5) state champion.”

The Trojans took a 1-0 lead in the second when Josie Renschler reached base on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and ultimately scored when Erin Lowe smacked a single to left.

Undeterred, the Cavaliers answered quickly with two runs in the top of the third.

Freshman shortstop Alexis Rothschild led off with a walk on a 3-2 pitch and advanced to second on Reagan Abbott’s sacrifice bunt, then moved to third when Cayla Wright followed with a single to centerfield.

Senior catcher Kristyn Niles then drilled a double to centerfield scoring both Rothschild and Wright to put the Cavs up 2-1.

“It was a playoff dogfight,” Whitt said. “Our girls responded.”

Though the Cavaliers worked their way out of runners-in-scoring predicaments in the first and third, the Trojans manufactured a run in the fourth to forge a tie.

Renschler reached once again on a fielder’s choice and moved to second when Lea Foldenauer walked. Lowe then stroked a double to left sending Renschler home.

From that point, Fiege, a senior lefthander, shut the Cavaliers down.

All told, the Roanoke College commit threw 84 pitches, 62 for strikes, allowed three hits and one walk, and struck out 12.

“Clover Hill has some great bats,” she said. “When Kristyn hit that two-run off me, my team was, ‘We’ve got your back. We got this. Just go pitch your game.’

“That’s what I did. I locked in, hit corners, and got in my groove.”

Fiege, who sports a 0.67 earned run average, struck out the side in the top of the seventh.

“She’s a leader,” Whitt said. “She’s been a warrior all year long. We have three pitchers, but all her starts have been against playoff teams. She took it to another level. She’s the ultimate, ultimate competitor.”

Fiege’s rise-to-the-moment opposite field double down the left field line in the home half of the inning was her second hit of the night.

“I was excited,” she said of her final at-bat. “I was seeing her (the pitcher) well. I love to hit as much as I love to pitch and play defense. I’m ready for any situation. I just love to be in pressure situations. That’s where I thrive.”

When Corcoran stepped to the plate, she looked to Whitt, who signaled what he called a “safety squeeze.”

“Charlotte has the option to bunt it,” Whitt said. “It wasn’t a straight-up squeeze where she has to put it down. G read it perfectly. She took off as soon as she saw it down. She got a great jump.”

As she raced to first, Corcoran missed the excitement at the plate.

“If the pitch is there, get it down,” Corcoran said. “It takes a lot of thought process. You have to make sure you’re pushing it to the right spot because if you don’t, it messes up the entire thing.”

The pitch to Corcoran, a righthanded batter, was a fastball on the outside corner of the plate.

“There was definitely a lot of pressure, but it was good pressure,” she said. “It worked out really well.”