Purcellville, Va. — Since the school opened in 2010, the Woodgrove High School softball team has enjoyed nothing but success. That success has come in the form of seven district tournament championships, seven region tournament championships, three state tournament runners-up and four state tournament championships.
And the winning ways have shown no sign of slowing down as the Wolverines defeated crosstown rival Loudoun Valley High School, 4-0, on May 24 to claim the Dulles District championship.
[adrotate banner=”9″]“It feels good to beat Loudoun Valley considering that they have given us a good fight all season,” Woodgrove junior catcher Maxine Barnes said. “They have a great program, and I’m glad we got to play against them several times this year.”
Woodgrove got the scoring going in the first inning when freshman infielder Jamie Hardy hit a two-RBI line drive single up the middle, scoring senior outfielder Cassidy Miller and junior catcher Maxine Barnes. Hardy followed up her first inning RBIs with a solo home run in the third to push the Wolverines lead to 3-0.
Those runs would be all Woodgrove senior ace Camryn Dolby would need as she spread three hits and struck out fifteen Vikings over seven innings of shutout work in the circle.
While Dolby cruised for the Wolverines, Loudoun Valley senior ace Tressa Kagarise put up a tremendous fight, striking out eight and holding the high-powered Woodgrove offense – which averages more than 11 runs a game – to less than five runs for just the fifth time this season.
Over the course of this season, the rival teams have faced off four times. In their first meeting of the season, the Wolverines defeated the Vikings 1-0 after senior outfielder Taylor Donches hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning on April 19. On the May 15, Loudoun Valley freshman Kendall Owens hit a home run to defeat Woodgrove, 1-0. The Wolverines then won a one-game playoff to determine the Dulles District tournament No. 1 seed, 5-1, on May 21.
“To be district champions feels great because we’ve given ourselves a chance to go all the way to states again,” Woodgrove sophomore second baseman Katie Merchant said.
Both Woodgrove and Loudoun Valley will advance to the VHSL Region 4C tournament starting May 29 as the Vikings look to avenge their district tournament loss while the Wolverines look to win their eighth straight region tournament championship.
