By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Madison County’s softball team used an offensive outburst in the late innings to break open a tight game and run past county border rival William Monroe 13-6 Tuesday night in Madison. The victory secured the Bull Run District title for the Mountaineers.
With the teams deadlocked at four after three-and-a-half innings, the Mountaineers began making their move in their half of the fourth. Carrington Frazier led off with a single and advanced to second on Cagney Shifflett’s sacrifice bunt. She then scored on Kaley Aylor’s base hit to put Madison ahead for good. Aylor also crossed the plate to double Madison’s lead later in the inning.
“After the third it seemed like our bats really came alive, and we got going on the offensive end,” Madison head coach Jesse Yowell said.
The Dragons cut that lead in half when Alexis Wayland blasted a solo homer to left-center to lead off the fifth. It was the first home run surrendered by Mountaineers pitcher Megan Shifflett all season.
But the Mountaineers blew the game open in their half of the fifth, plating five runs on the heels of three base hits, an error and a double by Cagney Shifflett, effectively putting the game out of reach. Monroe managed a run in the seventh, but it was nowhere near enough to deter Megan Shifflett from finishing off yet another complete game. Shifflett has pitched all but five innings for Madison this season.
“Monroe played well too, those six runs were the most we’ve given up all season,” Yowell said. “But Megan did a great job mixing it up and keeping them off-balance.”
The Dragons drew first blood when Wayland singled, advanced to second on a Makayla Morris walk, stole third and crossed home on a McKenzie Flora sacrifice fly. The Mountaineers countered with three in the bottom half of the first, but Monroe scored three of their own in the second to lead 4-3 after one-and-a-half. It was the last time they would lead in the game.
