Dixie Chicks

ASHLAND - The Matoaca softball team, since moving to the Virginia High School League AAA level, made school history when it advanced to the Central District championship game.
With the championship game appearance, the Warriors did one better and secured their first Central Region berth.
Well, Matoaca raised the bar once again.
The Warriors scratched across two runs in the top of the fourth inning and defense and pitching made it stick as visiting Matoaca defeated Patrick Henry 2-1 in the Central District quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The Matoaca eight-year coach Scott Driskill explained why the Warriors were ready for the task against the No. 1 seed from the Colonial District.
"We've faced great competition every game in the Central District and I really don't think other people understand that," Driskill said. "Their pitcher [Emma Mitchell] is a great pitcher, and one of the best in the area, but we have four pitchers in our district from Thomas Dale, Prince George, Dinwiddie and Colonial Heights that can match up with anyone. We were ready for this and our district is the reason."
Matoaca freshman pitcher Jessica McCabe, didn't look anything like a first-year player in this game played amid temperatures that hovered around 100 degrees. In the final tally, she gave up four hits to a team that had won 19 straight games, and registered 11 strikeouts, four of them coming at crucial junctures.
"She has been playing so much travel ball, she doesn't play anything like a freshman" Driskill said. "Besides some of the great plays today, I am so proud of this team [and program] because I know how far we have come. We have gotten better every single season since I have been here."
In fact, McCabe had recorded five strikeouts in the first two innings but the downside was the Patriots' Madison Gilman, who had the only hit of the game in the first two innings for either team, launched a home run, on a 3-2 pitch, over the left field fence to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
But Matoaca was undaunted and the seniors got it started. Senior Krysten Davis led off the top of the fourth inning with a crisp double in the left-center field gap. Then, the flex player - senior Ashley Warren - ran for her and Morgan Kiefer followed with the sacrifice bunt. The sophomore's attempt was so nice that it allowed her to reach first for the base hit and move Warren over to third base.
So with one out, senior Victoria Lloyd hit a ball to the Patrick Henry second baseman Alley West and she opted to throw home on the fielder's choice and slid in safely to tie the game at 1-1. What the Patriots didn't see was Kiefer, displaying brilliant speed, never stopped and came around to score and give the visitors a lead they would never relinquish.
"Davis got it started and we put our flex player in [Ashley Warren] and she scored the first run," Driskill added. "But Morgan Kiefer, who is very fast, never stopped. We came in here being aggressive and we were going to continue to be aggressive. We feel like we have nothing to lose, so we are going to take chances."
That is the same modus operandi employed by the Matoaca baseball team and veteran coach Fred Stoots. So Driskill took a page out of their book, with the majority of the Warriors baseball team in attendance, which proved to be a nice touch for a team that was ousted from the playoffs less than 24 hours earlier.
Patrick Henry threatened a couple of times thereafter but two things became evident: one, the defense especially third baseman Melissa Skoff was prepared to make plays; two, the Warriors would not let Gilman beat them at the plate.
In the bottom of the fourth, Ashley Samuels led off with the walk for the Patriots. Anna Hogue attempted to bunt but the fast-charging Skoff snared the ball in the air for the first out and tossed to first to get the runner before she got back for the double play. She capitalized on her defensive prowess by leading off the next inning with a single.
Skoff, who the team calls 'Steady Eddie,' made three other defensive gems including the second out of the final inning on a over-the-shoulder catch in foul territory.
"She has just been so steady in the field," Driskill said. "She used to be our pitcher and when we asked her to move over to third, she never once complained, and she has gone on to be an all-district player at third base. I couldn't be more proud of her."
With the win, Matoaca improved to 15-6 while Patrick Henry finished the season with a 19-2 record. The Patriots only loss before the game was a season-opening loss to Maggie Walker Governor's School.
"Today we had some people in different positions," said Patrick Henry 11th-year coach Matt Crowder. "But that is still not an excuse. We were just not completely focused and we kicked the ball around a little bit.
"Also, I think it hurt us a little because we were not very familiar with the Matoaca lineup. But all in all, it was a great season and the nucleus of this team returns next year."
Crowder, who said the team is a junior-laden team, got a strong performance out of pitcher Emma Mitchell. The right-hander gave up five hits and recorded four strikeouts.
Matoaca, will play Cosby a 10-3 winner over Hanover, in a region semifinal game on Thursday at Lee-Davis High School. Game time is 7 p.m. The Titans beat the Warriors 5-2 on March 24 but Driskill said his team is much improved since then, especially on defense where the team has only 11 errors on the season.

- Thomas C. Dozier can be reached at tdozier@progress-index.com

Matoaca 000 200 0 - 2 6 2
Patrick Henry 100 000 0 - 1 4 2
McCabe and Driskill. Mitchell and Gilman. WP - McCabe.
HR - Gilman (PH) none on.
Records: Matoaca 15-6, Patrick Henry 19-2