The start of Friday afternoon’s softball matchup between Cave Spring and Christiansburg was delayed for 30 minutes when rain moved through the Knight’s complex.
Once the game began, a storm really set in from the Cave Spring offense.
Taking advantage of a depleted Christiansburg roster, including the leading Blue Demon pitcher, Cave Spring rolled to the easy 12-0 win in the River Ridge game shortened to 4 1/2 innings due to the 10-run rule.
“Hat’s off to Christiansburg,” second-year Cave Spring head coach Nick Sharp noted afterward. “They were very short-handed but fought hard the whole game. Our goal was to get runs early.”
While the Lady Knights were hitting the ball hard from the outset, Christiansburg offered plenty of assistance with control problems from the back-up staff.
In the Cave Spring circle, starter Taylor Asimakopoulos dominated the Blue Demon batters, allowing only a pair of hits and one base-on-balls while striking out eight to pick up the complete-game win.
The Knights got things going in the first when Alayna Francis reached base and scored on a single by sophomore Molly Kwitney. After Kwitney stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, she scored on a Cassi Parulis single to make it 2-0 Knights.
Cave Spring essentially put the game away in their half of the second. Two walks started the inning and after a mixture of three straight wild ptiches and passed balls scored both to make it 4-0, the bottom fell out for the Blue Demons.
Freshman Morgan Leftwich followed with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch, ending the day for Blue Demon starter Kaitlyn Poole.
Cave Spring kept the merry-go-round going courtesy of walks, a hit batsman, wild pitches, passed balls and an illegal pitch. In the middle of that mix, Hailey Sitze connected on a 2-RBI double to left field. When the dust had settled, Cave Spring had plated eight runs and led 10-0.
Christiansburg got their first baserunner in the third on a walk by Kelsey Hall. Their first hit came in the fourth on a single by Jesse Burleson.
The Knights added two runs in the fourth after Pami White doubled and scored on a single by Parulis. Parulis would later score the 12th Cave Spring run on a sacrifice fly.
Hall connected for a one-out single in the Blue Demon fifth, but Asimakopoulos closed the door to secure the shutout.
Francis reflected on the difficulties of facing the off-speed pitching and control problems offered from the circle by the Christiansburg pitching staff.
“I’ve been hit 10 times this season, with another one tonight,” the Kinight’s third baseman said. “As far as handling the off-speed stuff, we practice that and know how to be disciplined. It comes down to pitch selection.”
Parulis led the Cave Spring attack with three hits and three RBIs. White had two hits and a pair of RBIs for the Knights.
Cave Spring improved to 14-1; 8-0 River Ridge. All eyes are pointing to the week of May 19th when Cave Spring plays three games in four days, including a pair against rival Hidden Valley.
– Bill Turner
