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In Charlottesville, Brooke Nester recorded what may go down as the highlights of the season for Liberty on Friday. The junior hit a pair of home runs — one to tie the game and force extras and the other to win it — as the seventh-seeded Lady Minutemen edged second-seeded Monticello 10-9 in a marathon, 11-inning Region 3C quarterfinal softball contest.
Nester’s solo shot to left field came with one out in the 11th for a one-run lead, and LHS pitcher Kady Gordon completed her complete-game win by escaping a one-out, first-and-third jam without giving up a run in the bottom half of the frame.
Earlier, Nester knocked a two-run homer over the fence in left field with no outs in the seventh. The hit tied the game at 8, and was part of a seven-run comeback by the Lady Minutemen (7-13).
Nester ultimately was responsible for half of LHS’ scoring. She went 3 for 5 with five RBIs, recording one of those on a bases-loaded walk in the eighth that temporarily gave Liberty the lead, 9-8, before Monticello (17-3) knotted the game in the bottom half of the frame.
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Her other RBI came on a single as part of a five-run fifth inning, which featured three hits and two walks drawn by Liberty, along with one error, all of which came with two outs.
Chiara Albertin went 3 for 6 for LHS, and Ashley Goff and Gordon had two hits apiece. Monticello outhit the visitors 16-10, and five Mustangs players recorded multiple hits. Sammi Deitsch led MHS by going 5 for 6. Madison Steppe went the full 11 innings for the hosts, recording 18 strikeouts; six of the 10 runs she gave up were unearned.
Liberty will travel to No. 3 seed Broadway (18-6) — which defeated sixth-seeded Fort Defiance 8-2 in another quarterfinal Friday — for the semifinals Tuesday (time to be announced). The winner of that game notches a Class 3 state tournament berth.
In Penn Laird, fifth-seeded Rustburg edged fourth-seeded Spotswood (11-8) in the Region 3C quarterfinals to extend its win streak to four games and punch its ticket to Tuesday’s semifinals, where a state tournament berth will be on the line.
The Red Devils (12-6) will travel to No. 1 seed Turner Ashby for a 6 p.m. game.
Turner Ashby 12, Brookville 2 (5 innings)
In Bridgewater, the top-seeded Knights put on a hit parade in the bottom of the third inning against the Bees, with four triples, two singles, a double and a home run in that one frame alone, and Brookville’s season came to a close in the Region 3C quarterfinals.
It was a rematch of a 2014 state championship game, which Brookville won 10-4, as part of its back-to-back state titles. TA has been back to the state title game once since then, in 2019 when it lost to Liberty High, but is awfully strong this season and sports a 22-0 record.
Nine years after that memorable matchup with Brookville, TA smacked two home runs as part of a 12-hit day, and pitchers Haley Lambert and Natalie Wisman combined to allow just four hits.
Jada Fyffe, Addison Wray, Addie Bond and Mattie O’Daniel had one hit each for Brookville (8-11).
Fyffe worked her way on base with a leadoff walk in the top of the first and scored later on Ashley Ferguson’s sacrifice fly to left. Fyffe also singled to left in the second inning to score O’Daniel.
In Chatham, Gretna pitchers Hailey Walker and Alyssa Keesee combined to allow just two hits, but walks, errors and a spot-on performance by Cavaliers starter Cora Liggon ended the Hawks’ season.
Liggon tossed a complete-game shutout for Chatham (13-6), allowing four hits, one walk and striking out 16 of the 26 batters she faced. Her Cavaliers scored one run in the first and second innings, then put up two more in the fifth to advance to the region semifinals.
Walker allowed one hit in two innings of work, Keesee followed by giving up just one hit and fanning five. But the Hawks (4-16) made three errors, and the two pitchers issued eight walks.
Chatham advances to play Appomattox (20-1), the two-time defending Class 2 state champ, on Tuesday. That game will be played as part of a semifinal doubleheader (James River vs. Patrick County is the other game) at Botetourt Sports Complex in Troutville. First pitch for Chatham vs. Appomattox is slated for 5 p.m.
Senior right-hander Ben Blair continued what has been a dominant season by allowing just three hits across six innings, and Liberty Christian continued a dream campaign by defeating Rustburg in the Region 3C quarterfinals in Lynchburg.
Blair, a 6-foot-3 Liberty University signee, struck out 10 and walked four. He combined with Landon Owen for the shutout. Owen struck out the side in the seventh to help LCA improve to 20-0.
For LCA, it was the first postseason step toward the team’s hopes to earn its second straight Class 3 state championship. The Bulldogs are now 20-0 and have benefited particularly from strong pitching. Blair, for instance, improved to 10-0 on the season Friday. He has fanned 93 batters in 54 innings, sports a 0.51 ERA and hasn’t allowed more than three hits in any of his ten outings.
Rustburg (8-13) was eliminated after winning four of its last five games and beginning postseason play by defeating Rockbridge 6-3 in Wednesday’s first-round game. The Red Devils began the season a dismal 1-7 but managed to turn things around in the latter half of the season.
On Friday, LCA received a solo home run from Braden Weaver (3 for 3) and a two-run shot from Boston Torres. Weaver also finished with three RBIs and three stolen bases. Peyton Locke was 1 for 2 with two RBIs.
Hunter Carlson, Evan Martin and Camden McCormick all had singles for Rustburg. LCA hosts Broadway on Tuesday in the region semifinals. Broadway defeated Spotswood 4-1 on Friday. Tuesday’s game (time to be determined) will decide which team receives an automatic berth in the Class 3 state tournament.
Tunstall 3, Staunton River 2
In Dry Fork, second-seeded Tunstall edged 10th-seeded Staunton River on penalty kicks in the Region 3D quarterfinals. Each team scored two goals in the first half, and a stalemate over the last 40 minutes of regulation lasted into overtime. The Trojans (15-4-1) edged the Golden Eagles (6-13-1) 3-2 in penalties.
Spotswood 1, Liberty Christian 0
In Penn Laird, Spotswood ended Liberty Christian’s season in the Region 3C quarterfinals. The top-seeded Trailblazers (13-4) scored the game’s lone goal with four minutes left on Daniel Romanchuk’s header to edge the eighth-seeded Bulldogs (9-9-1).
Appomattox falls in Region 2C first round
In Appomattox, fifth-seeded James River (Buchanan) edged fourth-seeded Appomattox in the first round of the Region 2C tournament, and the Raiders ended their season with an 11-5-1 mark. The Knights improved to 12-5-1.
Magna Vista 3, Staunton River 2
In Ridgeway, eighth-seeded Staunton River scored two second-half goals to overcome a 1-0 deficit at the break of the Region 3D quarterfinal game, but top-seeded Magna Vista (19-1) scored in the third overtime to advance. SRHS ends its season at 12-7-1.
Charlottesville 3 Liberty Christian 1
Visiting Charlottesville built a 3-0 lead and never looked back en route to a victory over LCA in the Region 3C quarterfinals in Lynchburg.
The sixth-seeded Black Knights improved to 8-5-4, while the Bulldogs’ season comes to a close at 10-5-1.
Wilson Memorial 1, Brookville 0
In Fishersville, Brookville’s season came to a close in the Region 3C quarterfinals. Top-seeded Wilson Memorial preserved its undefeated record (14-0-3), and the eighth-seeded Bees saw their campaign end with a 7-9-2 mark.
At Liberty University, Liberty Christian kept its undefeated season going by notching an automatic berth into the Class 3 state tournament, blanking visiting Spotswood in the Region 3C semifinals.
Bennet Mowry held on to win at No. 1 singles over Jackson Knight 6-4, 6-3, while Jon Hoover defeated Nathan Lees at No. 2, 6-2, 6-4. LCA (14-0) also received a strong performance at No. 3 from Landon Bivens, who downed Cam Cooley 6-1, 6-3. At No. 5, Hawkins Glenn defeated Ryland Wade 6-1, 6-4. And at No. 6, Andrew Seipp defeated Drew Wiley 6-3, 6-3.
The other singles match, at No. 4 was not finished by the time LCA was declared the winner, but LCA’s Hudson Brooks and Spotswood’s Max Gass played it out anyway, with Brooks winning in three sets: 6-2, 4-6, 7-4.
LCA will play Monticello (18-2) in the region championship at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Monticello defeated Charlottesville 5-4 in another semifinal Friday.
Staunton River’s Ferguson falls in 3D singles tourney
After winning her first-round match by default at Virginia Tech on Friday morning, Staunton River’s Addison Ferguson fell to Cave Spring’s Katie Carrol 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Region 3D tournament.
The win put fifth-seeded Carrol in the final round, but she lost by default to second-seeded Lauren Wimmer of Abingdon, the 2021 state individual champion and 2022 singles runner-up in Class 3.
Ferguson, a sophomore seeded at No. 1, advanced past Hidden Valley’s Nicole Scarlatescu, the eighth seed, by default in the morning quarterfinal round.
Abingdon blanked Staunton River in the region team championship 6-0 earlier this week.
Also on Friday, Spotswood blanked visiting LCA 5-0 in the Region 3C team semifinals. Spotswood receives an automatic state tournament berth and plays Turner Ashby in the region championship. LCA’s season ends at 12-5.
