Mustangs fall short

Monticello battled with visiting Brentsville District until the final pitch, but ultimately fell short in a 3-2 contest in Monday’s Region II quarterfinals, ending the Mustangs’ successful season.
Monticello, the Jefferson District runner-up, led for most of the game, but two big extra-base hits in the fifth inning proved to be the difference for the Tigers.
“The girls have hung in there all year, it didn’t matter what the score was,” Mustangs coach Beth Humphrey said. “They always believed that they could come back from
anything, and a lot of times they did. We just came up a little bit short, but no one on the team gave up and were in it until the last out.”
The Mustangs grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second inning, as Brentsville’s Grace Nordan threw a wild pitch that scored Lynley Price from third base. In the bottom-half of the next inning, the Mustangs (16-4) doubled their lead.
With the bases loaded and one out, Price hit an infield shot that Brentsville’s second baseman couldn’t handle, and Brittney Via scored to push the lead to 2-0.
Junior pitcher Victoria Scott threw a strong complete game, posting eight strikeouts on the day.
After fanning the side in the fourth inning, Scott struggled in the fifth, as the Tigers’ freshman Kayla Dost hit a stand-up triple to left to lead things off.
Tori Thompson then laid down a bunt to score Dost, and Rachel Lee followed with a single. Scott sat down the next two batters and had two strikes on Nordan before she hit a towering fly ball to left field, and Brentsville (18-4) took a lead it would not relinquish.
“[Nordan] needed that big-time, because she was she was really down on herself for striking out in her previous at-bat,” said Brentsville coach Amy Beard. “For her to come back and score those two runs was huge. We haven’t faced a pitcher like [Scott] all season, she did a great job, and they really fought hard.”
Humphrey added: “Victoria threw a great ballgame, but they made some adjustments at the plate. We were one pitch away from getting out of the inning, they just came up with the clutch hit when they needed it, and I tip my hat to them.”
Monticello had one last chance in the bottom of the seventh with a runner in scoring position, but senior Casey Burruss’ gutsy eight-pitch at-bat ended with a changeup that she could not catch up to.
Despite losing a starter to shoulder surgery in April and being forced to move players around in the lineup, the Mustangs made an impressive run and will only lose three seniors, and Humphrey hopes that her young team will continue to be competitive.
“The team is looking forward to next season, even though they didn’t want this one to end yet,” Humphrey said. “But they’re excited about what the future holds.”