West Potomac Wolverines flashed the leather and pounded the Rebel pitching en route to a solid 7-1 victory over Fairfax in round two of the regionals.
It's hard to pick the biggest highlight of the game, although it was probably the back-to-back home runs by Annabelle Miller and Raven Williams. Or was it the sliding catch by leftfielder Megan Jackson to steal a single -- a play that she turned into a double play with a strike to first base to catch the Fairfax runner unable to get back to first base in time.
It could have been the crucial caught stealing in the top of the first, when Torie Bolger threw the lead-off runner out trying to steal third. Maybe it was the two web gems turned in by Nikki Minnis, where she snared grounders heading for the outfield and threw to first for the outs. You could argue it was Kate Gregory's two spectacular plays at second, including a backhead snare to get the speedy Rebel by a step and the shoestring catch of a dying liner seeking to skip into the outfield.
Or maybe it was Raven's triple to right to drive in the first two runs in the top of the first. Or Jayne Orleans ending the game with a strikeout on a change-up that the Rebel batter could not resist. Or maybe Jayne's two sacrifice RBIs on flyballs to center with a runner on third each time (okay, sac flies aren't the most exciting play, but they scored the third and fourth runs of the game, so they were very well-timed). How about when Torie alertly pounced on a ball threatening to spin foul and tossing out the dazed runner. Or when Maddie Miller earned the team's second outfield assist of the night by throwing out the Rebel hitter at first on a would-be single.
The right answer is "all of the above." It might not have been the Wolverines' crispest game of the season, but it was close. It certainly had the most highlight reel plays of any game this season. Two dingers, a triple, countless spectacular defensive plays (actually, let's count them -- at least eight, and arguably more).
West Potomac advances to play in the regional semifinals on Wednesday at South County (7pm start).
The top of the first started ignominiously (enriching your vocabulary one blog post at a time!) when the Rebel lead-off hitter bunted her way on, and then used her blazing speed to steal second. A similar attempt to take third with no outs failed when Torie gunned to Nikki covering for the tag. The third out came on a long fly to Grace Moery in center -- a successful steal would have meant a 1-0 deficit.
Nikki led off the Wolverine half of the first with a walk, took second on a textbook sacrifice bunt by Grace. Annabelle chopped an infield single that the shortstop dove for and stopped from going through. With the play in front of her, Nikki had to dart back to second. Raven made sure they both got home when she tripled to right. Jayne hit a sac fly, and suddenly it was 3-0 after one. West Potomac was in the weird position of having an early lead in a big game.
After a lead-off walk to start the second, the next Fairfax hitter whiffed. Then, Megan turned her double play, first making a diving catch to spoil the likely single, and then rising, pumping once, and firing to first for the DP. Nikki's two out infield spinner single went for naught, and it was still 3-0 after two.
In the top of the third, a Rebel single to lead-off the inning turned into their only run. Maddie gunned down the next batter at first, and a second out came on a grounder to short. However, a two-out double easily brought the run home.
The Wolverines scratched out a run in the bottom of the third without a hit. Annabelle walk, went to second on a costly passed ball, reached third on a groundout, and scored when Jayne lined a shot right at the centerfielder. Annabelle beat the throw, which was off-line anyhow.
An error and a single in the top of the fourth was probably the high water mark of the Rebel advance, but two groundouts to the left side of the infield ended the threat as surely as the Union Army repulsed Pickett's charge at Gettysburg (Editor's Note: Took you long enough. Reporter: for what? Editor: Connecting the "Rebel" nickname to a historical event. Reporter: Well, it's either the Civil War or Star Wars, and I rooted for the Rebels in the latter, but not the former.)
Three special plays by Wolverine mittswomen (yes, I checked Google -- the word has never been used before!) made the top of the fifth one of the more thrilling 1-2-3 innings in Wolverine history. First, Nikki, moving to her left, snaring a would-be single with her outstretched mitt behind her. Then, Torie made a nice play to turn a weirdly spinning ball into an out. And then Kate went to her left, did a Willie Randolph-esque backhand, wheeled, and threw the speedy lead-off runner out by a step.
(Editor: isn't "one of the more thrilling. . .in history" a bit of hyperbole? Reporter: You got a better one in the last four years? Editor: ((nothing to say)).
The fireworks show came in the bottom of the fifth. Grace singled to right, beating the throw. Annabelle promptly smashed her second homer of the season, depositing it well over the left center fence. The Rebel pitcher then threw the next pitch in the same location to Raven, who hit it over the same fence, maybe five feet closer to dead center along the left center fence. It looked like the same play. Back-to-back jacks!
Suddenly, it was 7-1, and the game was, for all intents and purposes, over.
Oh, there were still six outs to go, but all that was left was another Nikki fielding highlight, one hit in the fifth and sixth for Fairfax, another Kate fielding highlight, and a change-up strikeout to end the game as decisively as a treaty signing in a small Virginia town named Appomattox snuffed out the last remaining Rebel hopes in 1865.
(Legal disclaimer required by the website lawyers: In no way does using the Civil War example imply the Fairfax High School is no better than the Confederates and what they stood for. Nor is mentioning Appomattox an endorsement of slavery. Our reporter does not even know Donald Sterling or Cliven Bundy, nor does he agree with their views. To be fair to our reporter, it's just a desperate attempt to make modest light of a high school's nickname. Please do not sue the website, as not only is there no profit, there is no way the editor could pay our legal bills, and as lawyers, that is our main focus -- getting paid.)
(Editor's Note: No actual lawyers were actually not paid during the writing of this blog post. You can sleep easy tonight.)
Wolverine Whispers: Three of the four remaining teams in the Northern 6A tournament (another catchy name -- Northern 6A!) are from Conference 7 -- Lake Braddock, South County, and West Potomac. The other team is from. . .oh, who really cares! Heck, I don't even know!
Congrats to Cindy Jackson to have the courage to don the Wolverine suit to pump up the fans. While the Phillie Phantic need not fear for his (her?) job, Cindy added a bit of levity to the start of the game.
This is the second time in three seasons that the Wolverines have advanced to the regional semifinals.
