Lady Trojan softball season ends in conference semifinal

Lady Trojan shortstop Paige Simpson applies the tag to Park View's Lindsey Townsend as the Lady Dragon runner attempts to take second base following a third inning play at the plate. Catcher Stephanie Torrence relayed the throw to Simpson who recorded the out

Alan Chamberlain photo

Over the final two innings, New Kent Lady Trojan hitters began to solve the delivery of Park View-South Hill pitcher Odicci Alexander. But despite getting runners into scoring position in each of the last two frames, the zero on the Lady Trojan side of the scoreboard could not be erased.

The Lady Trojans absorbed a 2-0 shutout at the hands of the Lady Dragons, bringing their softball season to an abrupt close today at York in the semifinals of the Conference 25 tournament. New Kent finished with a 16-6 record.

“If we had one more inning, it could have made a difference, but we started the bats a little too late,” said Lady Trojan coach Nicole O’Bier.

For five innings, the fifth-seeded Lady Trojans made little to no headway against the top seeded Lady Dragons and Alexander. At one point, Alexander fanned six Lady Trojans in a row on the way to an 11-strikeout performance.

Park View’s offense, meanwhile, pushed across its first run in the third inning on Lindsey Townsend’s looping single to shallow right-center that scored Leann Wilson (bunt single). A second run scored in the fifth before New Kent managed to mount a threat.

Pitcher Marisa Bush doubled to lead off the New Kent half of the sixth. She advanced to third, but was stranded. Then in the seventh, the Lady Trojans got two aboard on singles from Brittany LaPrade and Kaitlyn Finney, but to no avail.

Bush, meanwhile, pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, created in part by two walks. She settled down from there, allowing just three Park View hits while striking out eight, but a trio of errors helped the Lady Dragon cause.

“We’ve had a very good season, but this loss is tough on the girls,” said O’Bier, who loses only one senior, right fielder Dani Foster.

“We’ll have a lot of players back next year,” she said. “This is the end of another season, but it was a good season.”