Manchester cruises in softball quarterfinals
Manchester’s 14-0 victory over J.R. Tucker in the quarterfinal round of the VHSL, Region 6A softball playoffs Wednesday afternoon featured an impressive display of offensive firepower by the home team Lancers.
In a fast-moving game played under overcast skies that threatened to unleash a deluge at any minute, Coach Will Willis’s crew hammered out 11 hits, five of them home runs, into an assortment of spots in the woods behind the 180-foot outfield fence, while freshman righthander Kam Bryant spun a no-hitter, all in a shade under an hour from her opening pitch to the final out.
What was truly impressive, though, was that the field was playable in the first place.
You see, a series of powerful downpours the day before and into the night dropped four-plus inches of rain on parts of Southside, and when Willis and his staff arrived at 8:30 a.m. to survey the damage, they saw an uber-soggy quagmire in dire need of repair.
Undaunted by the Herculean task ahead, to work they went.
“Coach (Mike) Happel and I started sweeping water off the field with some brooms,” Willis said afterwards as the rain began to fall. “Once we were done with that, we started nail dragging and throwing down a whole lot of Turface (to absorb water, especially from the dirt infield).
“We’d give it time to rest. Then we’d nail-drag again. Then, we’d put down more Turface. We probably put close to 10 bags of Turface down and worked it into the field.”
Eight hours after they began, the field was safe-afoot and ready for action.
“Walking out here this morning, I was a little discouraged,” Willis acknowledged. “I wasn’t in the mindset that we’d get this game in, but once we got it (the Turface) worked in, we had a nice dry field for the girls to play on.”
Play, they most certainly did: with spirit, passion, intentionality, and intensity.
With one out in the bottom of the second, Kenzie Butler set the tone with a home run to center field.
Ayslin Long followed with a single to left and moved to second when Bryant was hit by a pitch.
Melissa Rodriguez walked to load the bases.
Then Bree Musselman, the No. 9 hitter, stroked a single to left, and a fielding error allowed Long, Bryant, and Rodriguez to score while Musselman landed safely on third.
Ally Bates, batting leadoff, reached on an error allowing Musselman to score.
Emma Newsom then drilled a home run to left center to send Bates home and put Manchester up 7-0.
The No. 4 Lancers (13-8) were just getting started.
As the No. 5 Tigers (11-9) attempted to stop the onslaught, Jayla Roberson stroked a double to left and moved to third when Butler reached base on an error.
Long, Manchester’s senior catcher, then drilled a home run high over the centerfield wall to scored Butler and Roberson and give the home team a 10-0 cushion.
“All of us were hyped,” Long said. “We all try to support each other. If somebody makes a bad play, we pick them back up. When the energy’s up, all of us want to do well.”
The Lancers brought more of the same in the home half of the third.
With two outs, Bates singled to center and moved to second on Bri Cryderman’s single to left.
Newsom followed with a moonshot home run to center scoring Bates and Cryderman.
Roberson, a freshman shortstop, followed Newsom with a dinger of her own, this one over the left field wall.
“Our offensive game was amazing,” said Newsom, a senior third baseman, in classic understatement. “Our chemistry has been really, really good recently. Going into the playoffs, it’s getting stronger.”
Which will serve them well when they travel to Chesapeake on Tuesday to face No. 1 Grassfield, which logged a 10-0 victory over No. 8 L.C. Bird on Wednesday.
“Today, we were just relaxed,” Newsom said. “We play much better when we’re relaxed and having fun. After that Cosby game (a 12-11 victory on May 21), we’ve been on a high. We haven’t beaten Cosby in four years. That energy just rolled into this game. We’re having a lot of fun playing the game of softball right now.”
While the Lancers bats were blazing, Bryant faced just 18 batters in five mercy-rule abbreviated innings, struck out six, walked just one, included 46 strikes among her 61 pitches, and relied on her defense to support her.
“My off-speed (pitches) had really great drop movement,” said Bryant. “That’s how I had success. I’m a grounders pitcher. I have a lot of grounders hit off me. I’m very proud of my defense. They provide me with outs and quick innings.”
The Lancers offensive pyrotechnics provided a pleasurable lift as well.
“There’s nothing like the joy of seeing the ball fly off my teammates’ bats and over into the woods,” Bryant said. “I’m ecstatic, especially when you know you’ll go out there and have a cushion to work with because you know your teammates have your back.
“That provides me with the confidence to keep on pushing.”
