by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
When pitchers like Lauren Vinson and Megan Williams are in the circle, hits, walks and base runners are at a premium.
So it was no surprise that Monacan and Prince George had goose eggs through 7 1/2 innings Friday; that’s 45 outs with no one crossing the plate.
That was until with two outs, Royals star Caitlen Manning dribbled a Williams pitch down the third base line.
She beat a throw by standout third baseman Brianna Bertovich, which enabled Krissy Fried to score from third, giving the Royals a 1-0 victory over the Chiefs.
“It just came down to the right play at the right time,” Prince George coach Pat Waguespack said. “I’m just glad it was us.”
The way Vinson and Williams were pitching, it didn’t look like anyone would score.
Vinson, a PG sophomore, struck out 16 Chiefs.
Monacan got one hit off of Vinson, when Lauren Gooden smacked a single with two outs in the seventh.
But Vinson struck out the next batter to end the threat.
“I guess their bats just weren’t as on as they usually are,” Vinson said. “It was pretty tough to maintain.”
Williams had seven strikeouts, but was just as tough.
The Royals managed a paltry four hits against the ace, only two of which left the infield. Manning, headed to James Madison, had two of them.
Her biggest came when the International Tie-Breaker Rule was put into play. That puts a runner at second with no outs for each team at the beginning of the eighth or ninth inning.
Monacan couldn’t touch Vinson, as she struck out the side. Prince George looked headed for a similar fate because of stellar Chief defense.
Taylor Whorley, who had one of the hits against Williams, moved Fried to third with a groundout to second base.
Then Ashley Lowe grounded to Bertovich at third. She cleverly kept Fried at third before throwing out Lowe at first for the second out.
That set up Manning’s heroics.
“They executed down to the end when they had to,” Monacan coach Billy Lewis said. “We did not. The kids are disappointed.
“Megan pitched a good game and the kids played well. This will prepare us for the district games.”
Monacan 000 000 00 – 0 1 0
P. George 000 000 01 – 1 4 0
Williams and Gooden; Vinson and Lowe.
Records: Monacan (3-1); Prince George (2-1)
Processing your request, Please wait....
