Floyd County blanks James River for Region C-2 softball title

Dani Harris spent most of Friday afternoon trying to start a big inning for the Floyd County softball team in the Region C Division 2 final at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem.

In the second inning, her leadoff single against James River led to the Buffaloes loading the bases — and a pitching change.

But Floyd County did not score.

“I felt like every time, I needed to get something started since I’m a senior,” Harris said. “I stayed loose.”

Another leadoff single in the fourth got the Buffaloes’ players and backers stirring again. But the Knights once again stopped the momentum.

Finally in the sixth, Harris came to the plate after teammate Aimee Royal reached first on an error.

The third time around, the rest of the Buffaloes were ready to respond. Floyd County scored five times in the sixth, and then let pitcher Karlee Pendleton take care of the rest as the Buffaloes claimed the region’s top seed with a 5-0 win over James River.

“I just kept telling the girls to hang in there, and something would happen,” Floyd County coach Scott Thompson said. “We had some big runs in that inning — even with two outs.”

The victory means that Floyd County (20-3) will host its VHSL Division 2 state quarterfinal on Tuesday. After all the travel the Buffaloes have had to do this week, that’s welcomed news.

“That’s one thing I told the girls before the game — I’ll go somewhere else, but I’d rather be at home on Tuesday,” Thompson said. “Now we’ll get that chance.”

Floyd County also appeared to bounce back quite well from its early departure in the Three Rivers District tournament. Since falling to Radford in the semifinals of that tourney, Floyd has outscored its opponents 35-2.

“Other than since then, we’ve really, really wanted to win, it didn’t affect us that much,” said Harris, who finished with three hits, a run scored and a stolen base.

Five runs were more than enough for Pendleton, who allowed just three hits and stranded three Knights base­runners on third.

“Karlee did real well,” Harris said. “She pitched a great game. She kept here head in the game the whole way.”

For James River, its 15-game winning streak came to a halt. Two errors in the sixth helped the Buffaloes’ rally stay alive and put the Knights in a hole they couldn’t escape.

“We had been playing near-perfect ball for a long time,” James River coach Kasey Phillips said. “It’s hard to play perfect ball. We made some mental errors, and it just kind of snowballed on us there.

“I’m just glad that it happened in a game where we’re going to go on anyway.”

It was just the second time this season James River had been shut out — Holston beat the Knights 6-0 back in March.

Jenna Sprinkle had a double for James River.

Floyd County 000 005 0 — 5 8 2

James River 000 000 0 — 0 3 3

Pendleton and Whitlow. Simmons, Tincher (2) and Hannah. W—Pendleton (6-0). L—Tincher (5-2).

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