Matoaca softball's dream season extended; at least 7 other teams will play for state titles Saturday

ALDIE – The dream lives on.

“Yes, it does,” said Matoaca softball coach Scott Driskill in the aftermath of the Warriors 7-3 victory over Kellam in the first of two Class 5 semifinal games contested Friday on the sunbaked diamond at John Champe High School.

“This is the first time we’ve ever won a regional championship or been to the state semifinals. Now, it’s the first time we’ve ever been to the finals.”

The dream? That’s an easy one.

“One more game,” Driskill added, smiling pointing heavenward. “I’m not sure they know how big the moment is. They’re young ladies. They’re all awesome. I’m not sure all of them get how big what happened today was or how big what’s going to happen tomorrow will be, whether we win or lose.”

On this toasty, clear, sweat-inducing morning, the Warriors (25-1) jumped on Kellam (Virginia Beach) early, rode the powerful and precise right arm of Kaylee Hodges, and then, when the Knights made a game of it, used timely hitting, defensive acumen, and their innate strength of will to fend them off.

“We put them (the Knights) in a hole,” Driskill said. “It’s hard to dig out of a hole when you’re facing No. 7 (Hodges) on the mound. 

“Give them credit, though. They came back. We knew that sooner or later it would happen. They did, and guess what? We came right back.”

Driskill’s crew scored three runs in the first.

With one out, Raven Crabtree was hit by a pitch and stole second. Hodges then drew the first of three walks on 3-2 counts and was replaced by courtesy runner Zy’aisha Marbury.

After Crabtree and Marbury advanced on a wild pitch, catcher Hayden Longacre, the cleanup hitter, followed with a sharp single to left center sending both across the plate.  

“It was my first at-bat, and I was looking to come out hard,” said Longacre. “I was just trying to get some hard contact to get them in because it was our first chance for an RBI.”

Then with two outs, Savannah Wright drilled a double to the centerfield wall scoring Keira Burnette, who had entered as a courtesy runner for Longacre.

The Warriors went up 4-0 in the third when Crabtree singled, advanced to second when Hodges walked, to third on a fielder’s choice, and scored when Wright reached base on an infield error.

The Warriors were cruising. Little the Knights (22-4) were doing was working. 

Victory seemed at hand. Then came the wake-up call.

Avonlea Flanagan led off the Kellam fourth with a first-pitch double to left. Karley Boone then dropped a bloop single to short center.

After Hodges recorded a strikeout which appeared to stem the Knights’ momentum, Layla Capps followed with a home run into the parking lot behind the 200-foot leftfield wall that scored courtesy runners Gracie Jones and Emma Blakey, cut the difference to 4-3, and ignited a spontaneous celebration amongst the Kellam faithful.

“I’m kind of used to that from travel ball because you face really good hitters,” said Hodges, the two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia and a University of Tennessee commit.  “It happens.

“It’s, OK, just go at the next batter. You can’t live in the past. If you do that, your headspace isn’t going to be good. 

“She had a great hit. She got a great swing on that pitch. I left it down in the zone. It was supposed to be a rise ball, but it didn’t really move. I knew what I needed to do. I knew what changes I needed to make in my pitches, and I did that.”

From that point, Hodges allowed only two runners to reach base. 

A picture-perfect Longacre to shortstop Abby Davis throw caught one stealing. Hodges stranded the other by striking out the final two batters in the seventh to end the game.

As Hodges was spinning excellence from the circle, Wright provided three much-needed insurance runs in the fifth.

Longacre singled to the leftfield wall and yielded to courtesy runner Burnette, Tori Ankiel reached on a fielder’s choice, and Wright followed with a shot that sailed over the rightfield wall and into Lobo Drive, which runs adjacent to campus.

“Inside pitches have always been my favorite,” Wright said. “I’m always looking for that when I’m up in the count. I had one strike on me, so it was still batter’s count. I saw it was a fastball inside. I just turned on it and took it yard.”

Hodges, a junior, allowed five hits, walked none, and struck out 17. She delivered 102 pitches, including 81 strikes.

Next on the agenda for Matoaca is Lightridge, which defeated Granby 7-0  in the other semifinal and has its own star in Peyton Robinson, who is committed to play at Georgia Tech.

First pitch in the state championship game at John Champe is 11 a.m. Saturday.

“We honestly work together as a team,” Hodges said. “We love each other. You really don’t have to be the best team out there as long as you love each other and play for each other. You want to live in the moment and have fun because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for some people, and we just want to take advantage of the moment.”

In other games:

With one result still pending, there are eight local high school teams who will play for high school state titles on Saturday.

Girls lacrosse:
Class 5
Douglas Freeman vs. Riverside, 12:30 pm, at Freedom-South Riding
Class 4
Western Albemarle vs. Hanover, 12:30 p.m., at Heritage

Baseball:
Class 5
Glen Allen vs. Great Bridge, 11 a.m., at John Champe HS
Class 4
Atlee vs. Woodgrove, 11 a.m., at Woodgrove HS
Class 3
New Kent vs. Turner Ashby, 11 a.m., at Abingdon HS
Class 2
TBD

Softball:
Class 5
Matoaca vs. Lightridge, 11 a.m., at John Champe HS
Class 2
Appomattox vs. King William, 11 a.m., at Moyer Sports Complex (Salem)

Girls soccer:
Class 4
Atlee vs Heritage, 1 p.m., at Woodgrove HS