Jun. 5—CLEAR FORK — On Friday night while the Bluefield baseball team was winning a sectional championship, the Lady Beavers softball team was earning the right to play for one.
Pitcher Cara Brown and infielder Sandrea Dickey both had superb all-around outings and Bluefield ended Westside’s season with a 7-4 win over the Lady Renegades in Class AA, Region 3, Section 1 loser’s bracket action at Westside High School.
The Lady Beavers (16-5) now emerge from the loser’s bracket to face Wyoming East in a 3 p.m. sectional championship game at New Richmond. Should Bluefield defeat the Lady Warriors, they’ll have to face Wyoming East a second time in a double-elimination finals.
“I’ve got a 13-year-old that plays baseball and I’m supposed to be in Charlotte tonight for him. But I’m not going to make it,” said Bluefield head coach Barry Reed, whose squad is attaining a level of success seldom seen — if ever — for the Lady Beavers program.
“Again, it’s not the same person every game. It’s a different person every game. Tonight it was Sandrea Dickey, who put on the defense and did her part on the offense. So it’s a total team effort. We haven’t settled on a star yet,” he quipped. .
In addition to helping Bluefield’s defense confine miscues to only one error, Dickey went 2-for-4 at the plate, scoring three runs.
Cara Brown (9-2) went the seven-inning distance for the Lady Beavers, striking out four and walking one. Offensively, Brown had a hit and scored two
Bluefield 7, Westside 4
Bluefield……301 040 0 — 7 5 1
Westside….013 000 0 — 4 6 5
Cara Brown (9-2) and Grace Richardson. Jade Fleenor, Reliever (5) and Lindsey Toler. W— Brown, 9-2. L— Fleenor.
Richlands 15, Graham 1
RICHLANDS, Va. — The Richlands softball team defeated Graham 15-1 at Rhonda Blevins Field to wrap up regular season play.
Baseball
Richlands 8, Graham 7
RICHLANDS, Va. — Jake Gillespie hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the seventh inning, lifting the Blue Tornado to a Southwest District win over the G-Men in a thrilling regular-season finale.
Collin Richardson crossed the plate to give Gillespie his walk-off hit.
Bowen Tarter (2-4) struck out five over two innings of late relief on route to collecting the pitching victory. Offensively, Tarter went 2-for-4 for Richlands, which knocked out 10 hits. Jake Altizer also went 2-for-4.
Matt Sarver led Graham at the plate, going 3-for-4.
Richlands (6-6) opens SWD tournament play at home versus Marion on Monday at 5 p.m. The G-Men will travel to Bristol, Va. to take on Virginia High at 6 p.m.
The winner of the Richlands-Marion game will play at No. 1 Lebanon on Tuesday. The winner of the Graham-VHS game will travel to face Tazewell on Tuesday. The championship and consolation game will be played on Friday.
Richlands 8, Graham 7
Graham………022 102 0 — 7 6 1
Richlands……100 240 1 — 8 10 4
Sarver, Raskowsky (6) and Brown. Richardson, Bowen Tarter (5) and Gillespie. W— Tarter, 2-4. L— Raskowski.