Contact: Jenni Brockman
Telephone: 804-443-3357 (w); 804-443-2703 (h)
Fax: 804-443-6781
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Scotties Rain on St. Catherine's Parade, Winning 11 - 10 in Eight
Despite torrential off-and-on rain, a sixth inning rain delay, and the absence of starting right-hander Shannon Davis, St. Margaret's varsity softball squad staged an extra innings rally to top Richmond's St. Catherine's School 11 - 10, on Thursday, April 15, at Essex Little League field in Tappahannock.
Senior Elizabeth Sadler's RBI single capped a two -run eighth inning to seal the win for the Scotties. Sadler drove in fellow senior Lesley Newman who reached first on the second of two consecutive St. Catherine's walks to begin the inning. Kym Register drew the lead off walk; scored off a single by Caroline Nickel. Nikki Clark flew out to the short stop as a designated hitter for pitcher Allie Chester; Clark and Chester were both recruited up from junior varsity for Thursday's game. Lesley Newman's kid sister, Sara, also walked to load the bases for Sadler.
St. Catherine's jumped out to an early 3 - 0 first-inning lead after holding SMS scoreless in the bottom half of the inning.
Allie Chester threw out the Saints in order in the top half of the second inning. Tess Duncan, who had reached base on an error by the Saints' right-fielder, scored the Scotties lone run in the bottom half of the inning.
In the third, St. Catherine's scored two runs off two hits. A snappy, double throw-back play between catcher Melissa Mancusso and short stop Sadler ended the Saints charge in the inning. Then, at bat, Sadler reached first on a Saints error; Mancusso's RBI single drove in Sadler. SMS trailed 2 - 5 heading to the fourth.
Lesley Newman led off with a fourth-inning single after another St. Catherine's error; Caroline Nickel singled to put runners at first and second for junior varsity big-leaguer Nikki Clark at the plate. Clark hit a clutch 2 RBI single to drive in L. Newman and Nickel.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth, trailing 6 - 10, St. Margaret's hopes looked dim as the Umpire called a rain delay due to a heavy, steady downpour. "At this point, if the rain did not subside, the score would revert back to the fifth inning and be an official game. We would lose 6 - 9. I think one or two girls were doing some rain voodoo stuff in the dug out," said Head Coach Sue Saunders. "It must have worked because, lucky for us, the rain slowed and the umpire resumed play minutes later."
Kym Register, who was at the plate when the rain delay was called, drew a walk when play resumed to score the runner on third. St. Catherine's committed two errors, allowing three additional SMS runs. The Scotties four-run sixth inning charge was good enough to pull even with the Saints at 10 runs apiece.
Both sides pitched a shutout seventh inning, as SMS won a wet one in extra innings in the eighth. "It was a great game. We really needed the win. I want to especially thank those rain-drenched fans who hung in there til the end to support us," acknowledged Saunders following Thursday's win.