NEW MARKET -— Southmont Softball is here to stay and the Mounties proved that on Monday when they hosted the No. 6 ranked Danville Warriors. Southmont got a great combination of timely hitting, great defense, and a gem from their ace pitcher Macie Shirk as the Mounties for the first time since 2017 defeated the Warriors 5-1.
Early on it proved to be a battle of the aces between Shirk and Aria Williams who go the nod for Danville. The Warriors would get on the board first with an RBI double in the third inning from Marley Gerald. That would be all the damage that the Warriors could do against Shirk as she ended the game with a complete game and allowed just four hits and striking out seven. The senior also got the Mounties on the board with a an RBI double that scored Taylor Grino. Shirk ended 2-3 with 2 RBI’s as did Elizabeth Conkright. Grino added a pair of hits as well and so did freshman Anna Stokes.
“We just beat a really good team,” Southmont coach Dan Taylor said. “They were 11-2 coming in and ranked in the top 10 and had beaten some really good teams. This was just simply our night. We had a lots of contributions again and no one person had to carry the load, and that’s what we’re used to. Macie and Taylor really got our rallies going and it was just great to see our girls rise to the occasion. We played great against a great team and beat a team that we really haven’t been competitive against in a very long time.”
Southmont’s bats really got going in the fourth and fifth innings. Each inning they tallied five hits which resulted in a pair of runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth. What made the win more special for the Mounties is that their three seniors when called upon, led the way and tallies six of the eight Southmont hits.
“They all made huge plays when we needed them,” Taylor said of Grino, Shirk and Conkright. “Taylor would get things started by getting on then Macie would drive her in. You can tell that she (Shirk) wasn’t trying to hit home-runs and was just focused on driving people in. Elizabeth just continues to hit well against great pitchers and I’m really excited for how well she’s playing. I also can’t say enough about Anna Stokes as a freshman. You can tell she doesn’t play like a freshman both when she’s at the plate and in the field.”
Southmont with the win improves to 11-3 on the season (6-2 SAC) and they still have one game with the Warriors left before squaring off with Lebanon, Western Boone, and one final game against North Montgomery down the stretch. If the Mounties are able to continue to play the way they played against the Warriors, they’ll have a shot to have thier best finish in school history in the Sagamore Conference.
“These girls come to play every night and they have a certain energy about them right now,” Taylor said. “They just keep coming after you and my hope is that will continue down the stretch here.”
The Warriors fall to 11-3 (7-1 SAC) with the loss. Their five hits in the game came from Gerald who had two to lead Danville. Williams, Addison Davis, and Tori Rhinehart each collected a single hit.
Williams took the loss on the mound as in five innings she allowed eight hits, five runs and struck out six while issuing two walks.
While the win for the Mounties is a season defining one, Taylor and his team know there is still one more left against the Warriors who will be coming for revenge on Wednesday when the Mounties make the trip to Danville.
“Our girls do a great job of concentrating on the things that matter,” he said. “They have a good focus and hopefully we won’t have a let down after this big win, but their reaction told me that they want to win tomorrow too which is great. They’ve become very competitive as a group and we’ll try for another one tomorrow, but until you’ve seen Danville or Tri-West play, you don’t know how good this conference is in softball and this is just a big win for us.”
First pitch at Danville is scheduled for 5:30 as the Mounties will look for the sweep of the Warriors.
