Late rally lifts Monticello over Orange County

ORANGE — The first five and one-half innings of Tuesday’s softball game between Monticello and Orange County went as scripted.

The Mustangs’ Victoria Scott and the Hornets’ Michalah Sacre were deadlocked in a 0-0 tie.

But in the bottom of the sixth inning, Orange put three runs on the scoreboard only to watch Monticello respond with a four-run rally of their own to steal the victory from the defending Jefferson District champions, 4-3.

“This was a huge, huge win for us,” said Mustangs coach Beth Humphries. “This will give [our team] a lot of belief in themselves that they can do this.”

Lydia Neuroth broke up Sacre’s no-hitter in the top of the seventh, hitting a three-run double to tie the game.

“I could see it in their eyes,” Humphries said. “They were just going to battle all the way to the end.”

In the very next at-bat, Scott drove in the game-winning run on a stand-up triple.

“It was exciting,” Scott said of the opportunity to provide her own victory. “That doesn’t happen very often, so when it does it’s really great.”

Orange (3-1, 2-1 JD) looked poised to pick up the victory when Amanda Murphy’s solo home run broke the scoreless tie.

The Hornets manufactured two more runs on a bunt and a wild pitch.

“It was definitely frustrating, but you can’t really give up,” Scott said. “You’ve got to keep your head in the game and stay focused. I thought we could still do this, still pull this out.”

Scott finished the game with 12 strikeouts, six walks and four hits.

Sacre rang up 15 strikeouts and surrendered just two hits, but walks and errors provided the Mustangs’ baserunners late in the game.

“We just made more mistakes than they did,” said Hornets coach John Henry Ryder. “That’s really just about it. Both pitchers threw well and I was telling one of my kids, it’s going to boil down to whoever makes fewer mistakes and who takes advantage of them.”

Orange squandered a significant scoring opportunity in the second inning. With runners on second and third and just one out, a baserunning miscue led to a double play that allowed the Mustangs (2-1, 1-0) to escape the inning unharmed.

Ryder hopes his team is quick to shake of the team’s first loss of the season.

“I told them to keep their heads up — it’s early,” Ryder said. “It’s just the fourth game and we’ll play [Monticello] again.”

After threatening in the second inning, Monticello wasn’t able to muster up almost any offense until the top of the seventh.

Sacre walked six batters, but Monticello wasn’t able to advance the runners by bunting.

Monticello travels to Louisa County on Friday at 7 p.m.

Orange travels to Madison County on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.