Washington Evening Journal
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Raider softball nails down 2023 WaMaC Conference championship
By Joe Petz, The Hometown Current
Jun. 26, 2023 8:06 am
Williamsburg’s softball team picked up seven more victories last week while nailing down the 2023 WaMaC Conference championship.
The Raiders’ lone blemish during the week was a 4-2 loss to Carlisle in a showdown of the No. 1 ranked teams in Classes 4A and 3A at the Clear Creek Amana Summer Classic.
SECURE LEAGUE TITLE
Williamsburg secured the WaMaC title by sweeping Center Point-Urbana on the road Monday, June 19, and Marion at home Wednesday, June 21.
The Raiders totaled 32 hits and 24 runs in their 11-2 and 13-3 victories over the 3A No. 15 Stormin’ Pointers.
Williamsburg had 15 hits in the opener, led by Shannon Finn and Rylie Metz with three apiece. Metz scored three runs and Finn crossed the plate twice in addition to driving in two runs.
Carly Rich, Taylor Pitlick, Peyton Driscoll and Elle Ridgeway each contributed two hits, with Rich driving in three runs, Ridgeway two and Pitlick one. Jenna Thurm added an RBI double.
The Raiders kept the bats pinging in the nightcap, pounding out 17 more hits, led by three each from Rich and Pitlick. Rich drove in two runs and scored twice, and Pitlick had an RBI double.
Metz was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI, Ridgeway 2-for-4 with two RBI, Thurm 2-for-3 with a double and one RBI, and Finn 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI.
Winning pitchers were Driscoll in Game 1, and Jersey Metz in Game 2. Driscoll gave up five hits, didn’t walk anyone and struck out 10. Metz allowed two hits, walked one and fanned six.
MARION
The Raiders continued to swing the bats well against the Wolves, totaling 20 hits in 8-2 and 9-4 victories.
Ridgeway doubled, homered and drove in two runs in the opener. Rich and Driscoll added two hits and two RBI apiece.
Ridgeway homered again and drove in two runs in the nightcap. Pitlick and Alley Gorsh each chipped in two hits and two RBI, and Rich, Thurm and Makenna Hughes had one hit and one RBI.
Driscoll went the distance in the circle in the first game, holding Marion to three hits and striking out 11.
Jersey Metz and Sloane Curtin both got time in the circle in the second game, scattering seven hits between them. Metz started and got the win, working 4-1/3 innings and striking out two.
CCA SUMMER CLASSIC
Williamsburg won three out of four games in the Clear Creek Amana Summer Classic Friday and Saturday, June 23 and 24, at Oxford.
The Raiders shut out both of their Friday opponents, beating Fairfield 10-0 in five innings and Keokuk 4-0.
Jersey Metz pitched a three-hitter against the Trojans, striking out eight. Sloan, in her first varsity start, scattered seven hits against the Chiefs and fanned four.
Williamsburg’s bats stayed hot, producing 29 hits in the two games — 15 against Fairfield and 14 against Keokuk.
Ridgeway went 5-for-6 on the day with four RBI, Rich was 4-for-6 with a double and three runs scored, Pitlick and Gorsh both were 3-for-6 with two RBI, Thurm 3-for-5 and Hughes and Finn 2-for-5 with two RBI going to Hughes.
Rylie Metz and Kalon Spratt doubled against Fairfield and Keokuk, respectively, and London Cook had an RBI single
In a battle of top ranked Class 4A and 3A schools to kick off Saturday, Carlisle beat Williamsburg 4-2, ending the Raiders’ seven-game winning streak.
Williamsburg gave up three unearned runs to Carlisle on two errors in the first inning and never recovered.
An RBI single by Pitlick and solo home run by Ridgeway, her third of the week and eighth of the season, accounted for the Raiders’ scoring.
Driscoll, guilty of one of those first inning errors, took the loss. Sher gave up five hits and struck out five.
Williamsburg bounced back from that loss with a 4-3 win over Cedar Rapids Prairie to close out the tourney.
Finn provided the heroics with an inside-the-park homer leading off the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie. The energy filled junior, who a few games ago set the school record for most stolen bases in a career, had two other hits in the game, including an RBI single.
Rich and Ridgeway also drove in runs and Jersey Metz pitched a complete game, giving up no earned runs on six hits. She struck out four.