Orange, Western fight for JD top spot

Since losing its season opener to Albemarle just over a month ago, the Western Albemarle soccer team has come a long way.
Behind sophomore forwards Aaron Myers and Alex Nolet, the Warriors (4-1-1, 2-0-1 Jefferson District) haven’t been beaten in their last five games.
After Western’s 7-1 rout of Monticello last Thursday, coach Paul Rittenhouse spoke of his team’s recent success.
“The team has to want to play,” Rittenhouse said. “The will has to be there, because there is nothing to coach if it isn’t. But figuratively, we’ve planted a seed. We know what we want and what we need to do. If we water the seed and take care of it, it should grow. And that’s what we’re hoping for.”
Western was about to win its fifth consecutive game against Charlottesville on Monday, when Salah Mohamed put one in during the closing minutes to force a 1-1 tie.
It was a costly tie, as it put Western a half-game behind Orange County (8-0, 4-0), who has quietly put together an undefeated season.
The Hornets dispatched the same three district opponents as the Warriors, which ups the ante for next week’s meeting between the two.
Orange and Western get a crack at each other tonight in Orange at 6:30 p.m. for the rights to first place in the district.
Warriors pick up win
The Western Albemarle boys lacrosse team picked up a big victory on Tuesday by edging St. Christopher’s of Richmond 7-5 at home. The win came just two days before a cross-county showdown with Albemarle on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Warriors reeled off the final four goals of the game to storm back for the win.
Max Pfeifer led the way with a hat trick and a pair of assists. Christophe Drapanas had two goals while Matt Galvin and Quinn Sweeney rounded out the scoring with a goal each.
A full plate
The St. Anne’s-Belfield baseball team had a busy weekend, wrapping up a three-game, three-team, cross-state weekend set with a Saturday split doubleheader. The Saints went on the road to beat Christchurch in a Prep League matchup Friday afternoon before sweeping Benedictine and Maury on Saturday.
“Three games in less than 24 hours — that’s fun,” said STAB coach Alan Swanson.
In the Maury game, a heavy wind blew across Perry Field and created havoc for batters and fielders alike. Right-handed hitters, in particular, swung for the short fence in left field, leading to an increase in wind-blown pop-ups.
“It’s very windy here today, so you have to be aggressive on the bases,” Swanson said. “We dropped a pop-up that cost us two runs and they dropped a couple, too.”
Baseball’s productive M.J.
Nelson County’s M.J. Wells had a productive day at the plate this past Friday.
The center fielder hit two home runs and a triple, finishing the game with four RBI in the Governors’ 8-4 win over Chatham.
Hornets keep rolling
The Orange County softball team stayed unbeaten in the Jefferson District with a 3-2 victory in eight innings over Louisa County on Tuesday.
Solid pitching carried the Hornets, as freshman Micalah Sacre recorded 19 strikeouts to earn the win. According to Orange coach John Henry Ryder, Sacre had a “little nick on her,” but the injury didn’t appear to slow her down.
Ryder had to make other adjustments to its lineup, with pitcher/shortstop Heather Jenkins and left fielder Cali Allen out because of injuries.
Christina Spencer, normally at third base, switched to shortstop, while Kate Searcy played left.
Missed opportunities
Louisa County’s Meagan Lesser had just as strong of a performance as Sacre, but the Lions were unable to put their hits together. Lesser, a junior, finished with 13 strikeouts and gave up four hits. However, Louisa stranded 11 runners in the game.
“We made some adjustments throughout the week because [Sacre] throws a little harder than most of the girls we face,” said Louisa assistant Canaan Perkins. “I feel like our pitcher out-threw the other girl, but it’s a matter that we made errors in the field and they didn’t. We had more opportunities, and we should have scored. Some of that is stuff we worked on — we had four girls get hit today, which was great. That’s one thing we talked about is getting everyone on base. And with Meagan pitching it only takes a run.”
Going the distance
It is quite an accomplishment to pitch a seven-inning complete-game shutout in softball.
On Wednesday night, Monticello’s Victoria Scott did much more than that. The sophomore pitcher dominated on the mound as she pitched a ten-inning shutout and recorded 16 strikeouts in a 1-0 victory over Louisa County.
Scott also had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th inning that plated senior Brenna Johnston.
The Mustangs (8-4, 3-2) travels to Nelson County on Monday at 5 p.m.
A newly-elected Senator
Carrie Brown, a senior at Madison County High School, recently committed to Davis & Elkins College, a Division II school in West Virginia, to play volleyball.
Brown, an outside hitter for the Mountaineers, recorded 155 kills her senior year and finished with 36 blocks and 189 digs. In addition, Brown had a 92 percent serving percentage with 58 service aces. She also had an 87 percent passing percentage.
She will join the Senators and play under coach Latonia Allen.
In other college signing news, Louisa County’s Tyler Brookman has committed to Shenandoah University to play baseball. Brookman, who also played football, pitches and plays shortstop for the Lions. Teammate Kenny Fleming signed a letter-of-intent to play at Texas Tech last fall.
Shelley makes waves
Caitlin Shelley, a 2007 graduate of Western Albemarle High School, was recently named a “Rising Star” at the University of Maine. The award is given for athletic and academic success to first year Maine student-athletes.
Shelley won several swimming events in dual meets for the Black Bears this season. In the America East Conference Championships, held at the University of Maine, she finished 8th in the 100-meter breaststroke, going 1:07:58, and 10th in the 200 individual medley in a time of 2:09:70.
Her times in these two events were the fastest by a Maine female swimmer this season and each was within one second of the school record in that event. Shelley finished the season swimming in the ECAC Swimming Championships at the University of Pittsburgh, where she qualified and swam in several individual events and on relays for Maine.