Cassie Parulis was locked into a tight pitching battle from the circle with her Christiansburg counterpart Friday afternoon at the Cave Spring softball field.
The talented left-hander, typically the second starter for the Knights, had held the Blue Demons to three hits and a single run through five innings, pitching out of a couple jams along the way. But, the game remained a 1-1 deadlock as Cave Spring came to bat in the bottom of the fifth.
Things changed in a hurry as Cave Spring erupted for 10 runs in the inning, and when Cortney Cooper raced home from second on a Kylie Kent single for the tenth tally, the game was halted by the 10-run rule with Cave Spring picking up the 11-1 River Ridge District victory.
The Lady Knights had gotten on the board first in the bottom of the third when Abby Beatty’s high drive to deep center fell just out of the reach of the Blue Demon outfielder, scoring Hailey Sitze for a 1-0 Knights lead.
Christiansburg came right back in the top of the fourth when they tied things up at one after a potential double-play grounder was mishandled on the relay to first.
Cave Spring opened the decisive fifth with a pair of walks. Cooper then doubled off the center field wall, scoring one, before Kylie Kent followed with a double to the same spot, bringing home two more Cave Spring runs.
The Knights would plate three more runs to lead 7-1, and with two runners on base, Beatty launched a monster shot well into the trees past the left field wall that put Cave Spring ahead 10-1.
With the 10-run rule within reach, Cooper drew a walk and stole second before Kent’s hit ended the action.
“We can hit with anyone,” Cave Spring head coach Nick Sharp said afterward of the 10-run outburst. “I told the girls in the fifth to take the challenge. I’m proud of the way they responded. We hit some deep balls today, and a couple stayed in the park because of the wind. Eight of our nine hitters in today’s lineup can hit it out.”
“It was one of my best pitching performances,” a smiling Parulis noted of her five strikeout afternoon in the circle. “I was pretty nervous while the game stayed close.”
(Beatty finished with four RBIs and Kent followed with three as Cave Spring improved to 10-4; 3-1 River Ridge)
by Bill Turner
