Apparently Coach D’Amour decided to hold an intersquad softball scrimmage tonight under the lights complete with umpires to simulate game conditions for the newcomers. The ladies played two five inning games, and wow, was it really entertaining to watch (although the weather was football weather instead of softball weather - brrr)

I had heard reports that the pitchers had been on a roll and were a bit ahead of the hitters so far this fall, but tonight, the batters evened things out in a big way – 29 runs on 40 hits, including 5 home runs.

Perhaps they were just seeing the ball better at night or perhaps they had dialed in some of the pitchers’ tendencies, but regardless, there were a lot of sharply hit balls and some of the HRs were absolutely monster blasts – a couple of them even cleared the trees.

I always hate to single anyone out since fall ball is a long process (and tonight was just a 3 hour snapshot), but I’ll share a few observations anyway. I'm sure I'll leave some things out, but here goes.

Both Kelsey Bennett and Jayme Bailey picked up where they left off last season. Jayme went 4 for 6 with 2 doubles and a home run and Kelsey drove in 4 runs with a HR and a double.

Some other returning players looked good as well. Maddie Rountree went 5 for 7, homered, and drove in a total of 3 runs, Kate Kobayashi went 4 for 7 with 3 RBIs, and Kayleigh Addington hit a 2 run homer.

But one of the lures of fall ball is a chance to see the freshmen in action and the new Hokies didn’t disappoint. At the top of the batting order, Addy Greene went 6 for 8, scored 5 runs, and stole 4 bases. Batting second, Emma Ritter went 5 for 6, scored 7 runs and batted in 3 more. They both look like they can absolutely fly! And Freshman Jenna Pearson hit a 2 run home run.

Pitching-wise, it was Ivy Rosenberry versus Mackenzie Osborne in game two, and although each had a bit of a rough night, they both showed flashes of potential, and will learn from tonight's outing. I hear they both have pitched well at times during fall ball and I’m sure they will get better with each passing day. AND, to keep things in perspective, even Keely gave up 5 runs tonight.

I continue to believe that Coach D'Amour has things on the right track and is building something special in Blacksburg.

LET's GO HOKIES!!!





[Post edited by VTChip at 10/02/2020 11:48PM]