High school: James River, Floyd headed to softball state tourney

INDEPENDENCE - James River and Floyd County won their respective Region C Division 2 softball semifinals Thursday to clinch berths in the state tournament.

James River beat Glenvar 2-0, and Floyd County defeated Grayson County 9-2 at Grayson County Recreation Park.

The regional final will be at 5 p.m. today at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem.

Abby Tincher held Glenvar (18-5) scoreless by scattering six hits and two walks over seven innings, striking out nine.

Alexis Breeding had two hits for James River (18-4).

In the fourth inning, Jenna Sprinkle scored from first on a double by Breeding. The Knights added another run in the fifth inning when Payton Hatcher tripled and scored on a single by Kayla Hannah.

"The story of this last part of our season has been 1 through 9 contributing," James River coach Kasey Phillips said. "We've been really solid in the field; we've backed up our pitchers. Both our pitchers are throwing well, so we're really jelling now."

Cara Neikirk went the distance for Glenvar, striking out 10 and giving up seven hits and one walk.

Kayla Mims and Laura Leonard had two hits each for Glenvar.

Floyd County (19-3) scored six runs in the third inning and beat nondistrict rival Grayson (18-4) for the third time this year.

The Buffaloes sent 10 batters to the plate in the third. Aimee Royal had a three-RBI double in the inning.

Christene Phillips of Floyd pitched the first six innings, allowing seven hits. She gave up two runs in the sixth.

"We told the girls coming in that we wanted to score first and put a little pressure on them," Buffaloes coach Scott Thompson said. "A six-run inning in this type of game is usually not going to happen. But we've had several like that this year."

- Craig Worrell, The Galax Gazette

SOFTBALL

REGION IV

Cave Spring 5, Abingdon 1

HILLSVILLE - Taylor Asimakopoulos pitched a nine-hitter, striking out three and walking two, to help the Knights win a Region IV semifinal at Carroll County High School and clinch a Group AA tournament berth.

Cave Spring (20-4) meets Tazewell in the regional final at 5 p.m. Saturday at Carroll County.

Down 5-1, Cave Spring scored five runs in the top of the sixth. Asimakopoulos, Cortney Cooper and Kylie Kent singled to load the bases. Pam White and Madi Billings each hit an RBI single. Lauren Roach had a two-RBI single, with the final run scoring on an error.

Tazewell 7, Carroll County 4

HILLSVILLE - Tazewell put an end to the Cavaliers' season in a Region IV semifinal at Carroll County.

Eden Durnil hit a solo homer for Carroll County (17-7). Ragan Halsey added two hits and one RBI.

REGION III

Broadway 19, Jefferson Forest 4

HARRISONBURG - Danyele Smith hit a pair of two-run homers to help her team squash the Cavaliers in a Region III semifinal.

Broadway (21-4) banged out 19 hits, including four homers.

Anna Pfister had a pair of RBI doubles for Jefferson Forest (16-8). Jeanine Minnick also had two hits.

BASEBALL

REGION IV

Alleghany 9, Staunton River 5

FOREST - Derek O'Connor scored twice and drove in two runs to give the Mountaineers a win over the Golden Eagles in the Region III semifinals a berth in the Group AA quarterfinals.

Staunton River (15-10) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, but Alleghany (19-5) answered with five runs in the bottom half of the inning.

The Mountaineers then tacked on four more runs in the fourth inning.

Mitchell Hullet and Matt Daniels had two hits each for Staunton River.

Alleghany plays Amherst County in the final at 7 p.m. at Jefferson Forest High School.

REGION C DIVISION 1

Auburn 9, Covington 3

COVINGTON - The Eagles rallied from a two-run deficit with two runs in the second inning and four in the fourth to earn a home quarterfinal game in the Group A Division 1 state tournament.

Cody Akers, Caleb Blink and Derek Gaynor had three hits each for Auburn (16-6). Gaynor also struck out six, gave up seven hits, gave up three runs and walked five in seven innings.

Colton Howard had two hits and scored two runs for Covington (14-9), which will play at the home of the Region D Division 1 champion. Jordan Miller had two hits and three stolen bases.

GIRLS SOCCER

REGION IV

Blacksburg 9, Abingdon 0

BLACKSBURG - Jessi Wollmann scored five goals to lead the Bruins over the Falcons, clinching a spot in the Group AA state quarterfinals.

Jean Everett, Ali Palmer, Mackinzie Williams, and Morgan Evans all chipped in goals for Blacksburg (16-2).

The victory was the 100th victory for coach Travis Eschenmann.

Blackburg plays Salem in today's final at Bogle Stadium.

Salem 3, Richlands 0

RICHLANDS - Anna Hakkenburg had two of three goals for the Spartans as they advance to the Region IV finals and secured a spot at the Group AA state quarterfinals.

Allison McMillan had one goal for Salem (15-3-2).

Nikki Sparks had 12 saves for Richlands.

REGION C

James River 3, Graham 1

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. - Yana Conrad had eight saves for the Knights as they defeated Graham to advance to the Region C final. Kendall Moyer, Lauren Fleming and Autumn Clonch each scored for James River (14-4).

James River plays Radford in today's region final.

TENNIS

REGION C

Glenvar's boys, Radford's girls
advance to state semifinals

RADFORD - Glenvar's boys tennis team blanked George Wythe 5-0 and Radford downed George Wythe 5-0 in the girls tennis tournament in the Region C finals at Radford University.

Igor Ponjavic, Colton Walls, Alex Dunkenberger, Nick Peters and Bryce Mallette earned wins for the Highlanders.

Cypress Beach, Morgan Miano, Hannah Kryer, Leah Patterson and Samantha Brooks picked up wins for the Bobcats.

Glenvar and Radford each advance to the Group A State semifinals against the Region A champions next Friday at Radford University.

Boys

Glenvar 5, George Wythe 0

Igor Ponjavic (Gl) d. Andrew Storms 6-0, 6-2; Colton Walls (Gl) Walls d. Mark Tye 6-0, 6-0; Alex Dunkenberger (Gl) d. Will Johnson 6-2, 6-0; Tyler Dishner (Gl) v. Reed Kegley DNF; Nick Peters (Gl) d. Graham Dillon 6-0, 6-2; Bryce Mallette (Gl) d. Joey Sarver, 6-0, 6-0.

Girls

Radford 5, George Wythe 0

Cypress Beach (R) d. Kayla Matheny 6-2, 6-2; Neha Desai (R) v. Rebeccah Storms, DNF; Morgan Miano (R) d. P. Yates 6-0, 6-0; Hannah Kryer (R) d. Thompson 6-2, 6-1; Leah Patterson (R) d. Morgan Yates (R) 6-1, 6-0; Samantha Brooks d. Abbie Davis 6-0, 6-1.

- The Roanoke Times

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