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06-09-2007, 10:44 AM
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Caitlyn Delahaba no-hit New Kent Saturday. Photo by Rob Ostermaier/Daily Press
New Kent falls 8-0 in Group AA softball final
By Jennifer Williams | jwilliams@dailypress.com (jwilliams@dailypress.com)
RADFORD— A lethal combination of opponent’s pitching and uncharacteristically shaky defense doomed New Kent in Saturday’s state Group AA softball championship. Broad Run’s Caitlyn Delahaba pitched a no hitter with 12 strikeouts, while the Spartans’ offense took advantage of five Trojan errors to dominate 8-0.
Broad Run, ranked fifth in USA Today’s national poll, finished 29-0. Delahaba, a junior right hander, threw 400 strikeouts this season as part of a 28-0 mark.
"It just wasn’t our game—we tried our hardest," said New Kent pitcher Becca Mills. "We had a great season. And if we get this far and it happens, we got far so we’re happy with that.
"We would have liked to walk away as state champs. But not everything goes your way."
New Kent’s two seniors made opposing choices about how to spend a game day that conflicted with their graduation.
Shortstop Anush Mooradian stayed to play, and received her diploma in a pregame ceremony complete with cap and gown as pomp and circumstance played along with the official pronouncement over the public address system.
"It was a very hard decision to make," said Mooradian, who will play at Radford next season.
Center fielder Taylor Newcomb, her school’s senior class president, returned home after Friday’s semifinal victory and had prepared remarks to make at the ceremony. First-year coach Betsey Lane moved left fielder Dana Tompkins to center, and put sophomore Cathy Cashin in left field.
Cashin, who usually serves as designated hitter, had only played in the field in two previous games this season. She and third baseman Kayla Timberlake each committed two errors for New Kent (25-4).
Mooradian and Timberlake committed back-to-back errors in the second inning that led to Broad Run scoring its first run. Cashin made errors in the third and fourth as part of a three run Broad Run rally.
"I didn’t foresee any costly errors like that," Lane said. "We work on defense every day and it’s just the way it is. We live and die by defense and today we just didn’t have it.
"You can’t win a state championship with five errors."
Mills praised Cashin for stepping into a difficult situation.
"With having new people in different places, it kind of just threw people off," Mooradian said. "And adjusting, after they scored that one run off of an error, it kind of brought the team down and the captains were trying their hardest to get them back up.
"But adjusting, it fell through, ball after ball being hit to a person that’s never played in a really hard position that (Cathy) was in. She came up to the field, she was nervous. She was already out of her head with really thinking."
Hitting Delahaba to make up for it was New Kent’s only option, but two players hit by pitches were the only ones to reach base. Lane said she had told her players to be patient and not to swing at anything above their hands.
"She wasn’t very hard to hit," Mooradian said. "We just were just swinging at stupid pitches was the thing."
"It seemed like we did not have it today," Lane said. "We were swinging at stuff above our heads, which usually we lay off, and looking at strike three go past, which we very rarely do.
"Our minds weren’t focused today."
Delahaba said her two senior teammates were sorry to see a perfect season end.
"I’ve had more strikeouts in games, but I thought I threw a good game today," Delahaba said. "Good enough to win, so that’s good enough for me."
BROAD RUN 8, NEW KENT 0
Broad Run 012x101x3—8x11x0
New Kent 000x000x000—0x0x5
WP—Delahaba (28-0). LP—Mills (25-4). Standouts—Broad Run (A.Kramer, double, RBI; Powell 2-4; Johnson 2-4, 2 runs; C. Kramer, double, 2 RBIs, Tiplady 2-4, 1 run). Records—Broad Run 29-0, New Kent 25-4.
Caitlyn Delahaba no-hit New Kent Saturday. Photo by Rob Ostermaier/Daily Press
New Kent falls 8-0 in Group AA softball final
By Jennifer Williams | jwilliams@dailypress.com (jwilliams@dailypress.com)
RADFORD— A lethal combination of opponent’s pitching and uncharacteristically shaky defense doomed New Kent in Saturday’s state Group AA softball championship. Broad Run’s Caitlyn Delahaba pitched a no hitter with 12 strikeouts, while the Spartans’ offense took advantage of five Trojan errors to dominate 8-0.
Broad Run, ranked fifth in USA Today’s national poll, finished 29-0. Delahaba, a junior right hander, threw 400 strikeouts this season as part of a 28-0 mark.
"It just wasn’t our game—we tried our hardest," said New Kent pitcher Becca Mills. "We had a great season. And if we get this far and it happens, we got far so we’re happy with that.
"We would have liked to walk away as state champs. But not everything goes your way."
New Kent’s two seniors made opposing choices about how to spend a game day that conflicted with their graduation.
Shortstop Anush Mooradian stayed to play, and received her diploma in a pregame ceremony complete with cap and gown as pomp and circumstance played along with the official pronouncement over the public address system.
"It was a very hard decision to make," said Mooradian, who will play at Radford next season.
Center fielder Taylor Newcomb, her school’s senior class president, returned home after Friday’s semifinal victory and had prepared remarks to make at the ceremony. First-year coach Betsey Lane moved left fielder Dana Tompkins to center, and put sophomore Cathy Cashin in left field.
Cashin, who usually serves as designated hitter, had only played in the field in two previous games this season. She and third baseman Kayla Timberlake each committed two errors for New Kent (25-4).
Mooradian and Timberlake committed back-to-back errors in the second inning that led to Broad Run scoring its first run. Cashin made errors in the third and fourth as part of a three run Broad Run rally.
"I didn’t foresee any costly errors like that," Lane said. "We work on defense every day and it’s just the way it is. We live and die by defense and today we just didn’t have it.
"You can’t win a state championship with five errors."
Mills praised Cashin for stepping into a difficult situation.
"With having new people in different places, it kind of just threw people off," Mooradian said. "And adjusting, after they scored that one run off of an error, it kind of brought the team down and the captains were trying their hardest to get them back up.
"But adjusting, it fell through, ball after ball being hit to a person that’s never played in a really hard position that (Cathy) was in. She came up to the field, she was nervous. She was already out of her head with really thinking."
Hitting Delahaba to make up for it was New Kent’s only option, but two players hit by pitches were the only ones to reach base. Lane said she had told her players to be patient and not to swing at anything above their hands.
"She wasn’t very hard to hit," Mooradian said. "We just were just swinging at stupid pitches was the thing."
"It seemed like we did not have it today," Lane said. "We were swinging at stuff above our heads, which usually we lay off, and looking at strike three go past, which we very rarely do.
"Our minds weren’t focused today."
Delahaba said her two senior teammates were sorry to see a perfect season end.
"I’ve had more strikeouts in games, but I thought I threw a good game today," Delahaba said. "Good enough to win, so that’s good enough for me."
BROAD RUN 8, NEW KENT 0
Broad Run 012x101x3—8x11x0
New Kent 000x000x000—0x0x5
WP—Delahaba (28-0). LP—Mills (25-4). Standouts—Broad Run (A.Kramer, double, RBI; Powell 2-4; Johnson 2-4, 2 runs; C. Kramer, double, 2 RBIs, Tiplady 2-4, 1 run). Records—Broad Run 29-0, New Kent 25-4.