Raider softball shines against ranked opponents

Class 3A No. 8 Solon, 3A No. 5 Mount Vernon, 1A No. 6 St. Edmond, 5A No. 4 Muscatine and 5A No. 2 Ankeny.

Those were the opponents of the Williamsburg softball team last week and the Class 3A top-ranked Raiders were up to the task during that tough stretch of games, going 5-2 to improve to 20-3 on the season.

SWEEP SPARTANS

Williamsburg swept a WaMaC Conference doubleheader from Solon Monday, June 12, at Jim Turner Field.

Coach Adam Berte’s Raiders won the opener 10-2 as senior Peyton Driscoll pitched a complete game, nine-strikeout, four-hitter.

Alley Gorsh gave Driscoll all the offensive support she needed, going 4-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and five RBI.

Carly Rich also homered for Williamsburg, Shannon Finn went 2-for-3 with a triple and one RBI, Elle Ridgeway singled twice to drive in a run, and Driscoll helped herself with a two RBI base hit.

Freshman Jersey Metz hurled a five-hit shutout in the nightcap, striking out seven, as the Raiders completed the sweep, 2-0.

Williamsburg plated both of its runs in the first inning on a two RBI single by Gorsh, and Metz made those runs stand up the rest of the way.

MOUNT VERNON

In a battle of WaMaC Division leaders Wednesday, June 14, at Mount Vernon, the Raiders (West) and the Mustangs (East) split a twinbill.

Game 1 went to Williamsburg, 2-0, as Driscoll dominated in the circle, holding Mount Vernon to two hits and striking out 12.

The Raiders got one run in the second inning on an RBI single by Ridgeway, and one run in the third on an RBI double by Kalon Spratt.

Williamsburg totaled of six hits, two of those by Jenna Thurm.

Game two, powered by a nine-hit attack, belonged to the Mustangs, 6-2.

The Raiders were shutout in every inning except the fourth when Thurm tripled to drive in both runs.

Rich and Gorsh had two hits apiece.

FORT DODGE TOURNEY

Williamsburg won two out of three games in the Dodger Tournament Friday and Saturday, June 16-17, at Harlan Rogers Park, Fort Dodge.

Friday, the Raiders beat St. Edmond, 13-2, and Muscatine, 4-0.

Metz threw all five innings against the Gaels, giving up just two hits and striking out five.

She was backed by 12 hits, including a two-run homer by Ridgeway, her fifth this season.

Finn and Taylor Pitlick contributed two hits and two RBI apiece, Thurm and Rylie Metz both drove in two runs on base hits, Jersey Metz helped herself with an RBI single, and Gorsh was 2-for-2 with a double.

The Raiders avenged one of their three losses this season by beating the Muskies, a 6-3 winner in the first meeting between the teams June 9.

Driscoll tossed a three-hit shutout, striking out six, and Makenna Hughes belted a solo home run to give her all the run support she needed.

Pitlick added a pair of hits and two RBI, Finn singled to drive in a run, and Driscoll doubled.

Saturday, Williamsburg suffered an 8-0 loss to Ankeny.

The Hawks roughed up Raider hurlers Driscoll and Sloane Curtin for 10 hits, including four home runs, two of those by junior slugger Cassie Johnson, raising her season round tripper total to 11.

Shutout for the first time this season, Williamsburg managed just four hits — two of those by Kalon Spratt.

SCHEDULE STAYS TOUGH

As the regular season inches closer to the postseason, several ranked opponents remain on the Raiders’ schedule, including a third encounter June 30 with Muscatine.

Also slated are 3A No. 15 Center Point-Urbana June 19, 4A No. 1 Carlisle June 24, 4A No. 13 Clear Creek Amana June 26, 5A No. 9 Pleasant Valley and 5A No. 7 West Des Moines Valley July 1, and 5A No. 3 Waukee Northwest July 3.