Strong pitching efforts send Granby, Hickory to semifinals
CLASS 5 QUARTERFINALS
Granby 3, Kempsville 0: Mackenzie Samuel threw a complete game, scattering five hits and striking out seven as the Comets extended the program’s first trip to the state tournament with a quarterfinal victory Tuesday in Virginia Beach.
Granby’s Destiny Harris had two hits, including a home run, and Maleah Hinkens added two hits and two RBIs.
The Comets (18-4) play Stone Bridge in a semifinal at 10 a.m. Friday at Riverside High in Leesburg.
The Chiefs finished 20-3. Hickory 5, Nansemond River 1: Tegan Gabrielse (15-4-1) tossed a four-hitter and struck out eight on the mound and provided some pop at the plate with three hits, including a home run, to lead the Hawks.
Gabrielse blasted a two-run homer in the fifth inning, and Courtney Hughes added three hits, including two doubles, while Paiton Everett also doubled twice. Alena Demakas and Sandy Emery had key two-out, run-scoring hits as the Hawks pounded out 13 hits.
Hickory will play Woodgrove in a 1 p.m. semifinal Friday at Riverside High in Leesburg.
Baseball
CLASS 5 QUARTERFINALS
Nansemond River 17, Hickory 9: Cam Bauswell had five hits and three RBIs and Ayden Stuffel drove in six runs as the Warriors rallied to force extra innings, then scored 11 runs in the top of the eighth inning to knock off the Hawks on their home field in a quarterfinal.
The Warriors (18-6) will play Glen Allen, of Henrico County, which beat Independence 4-3 in the semifinals with a three-run, seventh-inning rally. That game will be played at 10 a.m. Friday at Riverside High in Leesburg.
Nansemond River, which last won a state title in 2016, fell behind 4-0 early before cutting the deficit to 4-3 in the fifth inning. But the Hawks added two more runs before Nansemond River scored three in the sixth to send the game to extra innings.
The Warriors, though, batted around in the eighth inning.
“We hit the ball good all game, we just hit at people,” Nansemond River coach Mark Stuffel said. “But we fought back and sent the game to extra innings. In the eighth, we hit the ball and didn’t hit it to anybody. It was a lot of good hitting by everybody.”
Nansemond River’s Chase Magrisi finished with three hits and three RBIs.
CLASS 3 QUARTERFINALS Lafayette 10, William Monroe
1: The Rams scored five runs in the first two innings and led 8-0 after six to cruise to a quarterfinal victory in Stanardsville.
Luke Hanson permitted just one hit over six shutout innings on the mound and Blake Townsend hit a two-run home run in the seventh to seal it.
The Rams face Abingdon at 1 p.m. Friday at Spotslyvania High in a semifinal.
CLASS 4 QUARTERFINALS Hanover 10, Warhill 0:
The Hawks scored five runs in the first two innings and three pitchers held Warhill to one hit in a quarterfinal win in Mechanicsville.
Monacan 5, Grafton 3: The Chiefs plated two runs in the top of the seventh inning in a quarterfinal victory in York County.
The Clippers scored three runs in the fifth to tie the game at 3, but Monacan put together five hits in the seventh for the victory, including a basesloaded bunt single to bring in the go-ahead run.
Lynchburg-bound Cole Macomson pitched a complete game for the win.