Softball, 6/2/09: Prince George 2, Centreville 0

by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
(804) 240-2191

PRINCE GEORGE - For a change, Prince George was the team that got the early runs.

Maggie Roberts blasted a two-run double to left field in the first inning as the Royals beat Chantilly's Centreville 2-0 in the state Group AAA softball quarterfinals.

Taylor Worley and Lauren Vinson had drawn walks from pitcher Jessica Ferrick (two-hitter, five K's, three walks) to reach second and first, respectively, for Roberts' two-out shot.

"Hit the ball. Hit the ball hard," Roberts said of the thoughts running through her mind. "Hit it somewhere in play. That's the only thing you can do. It'll start falling eventually."

That's all the Royals would need, riding ace Vinson (nine strikeouts) and a stout defense to the finish line.

Through six innings, three Wildcats had reached base, two on errors. Victoria Marvin was the other on a third-inning double.

Center fielder Shauna Tutt replaced designated player Karen Johnson in the sixth inning, and lifted a Vinson pitch high into short left field.

The ball bounced off Katie Christopher's glove and into left fielder Aidan O'Hare's for an outstanding play to end the inning.

"It was hit to Katie in the air," O'Hare said. "I wasn't sure if Katie was going to catch it so I had to be under her to back her up. Even if it hit the ground I'd still be there. But it just happened to land into my glove.

"That was pretty cool."

In the final inning, Centreville put a little heat on Prince George.

Five hitter Cara Donovan singled, then second baseman Courtney Burke did the same as Donovan advanced to third on smart base running.

Then Burke swiped second to put pressure on PG's hurler.

But Vinson struck out the next two batters swinging to send Prince George to the semifinals at Westfield High School Friday against Eastern Region champion Great Bridge at a time to be determined.

"We started coming alive in the last couple of innings," Wildcats coach Rick Ferrick said. "That's something that I felt we should've been doing right from the start.

"These kids have fought all season long. There's never been a time where they've ever felt like they've ever been out of a game. We knew we had something going there.

"Just one of those things where [Vinson] did a nice job pitching."

Centreville      000 000 0 - 0 3 1
Prince George 200 000 X - 2 2 2
Jessica Ferrick and Victoria Marvin; Lauren Vinson and Ashley Lowe.
Records: Centreville (18-7); Prince George (21-4)