Leesburg, Va. — Katie Scheivert hasn’t played her last softball game. And while the Delaware-commit knew that would be the case even after her final high school season was over, she wasn’t ready to hang up her Tuscarora blue just yet.
Leading off the bottom of the sixth in a 0-0 game, all Scheivert was thinking about was how she could use her senior experience to help her team live to fight another day.
“Earlier in the game, I almost broke down, because I thought this was my last chance to play high school softball,” Scheivert said. “[Assistant] coach Jake [Jacobson] looked at me and said ‘no one’s played on this field as long as you have, so go show them what you’ve got,’ so that’s all I was thinking about up there at the plate.”
On the first pitch of her at-bat, Scheivert squared to bunt—hoping to get the leadoff base runner on—but pulled back and took a strike on the outside corner. After regrouping, Scheivert again stepped into the box, this time taking a rise ball up and away for ball one.
Then, facing a 1-1 count, Scheivert once again settled in, but this time, she drove the outside pitch over the fence in left center field as the Huskies’ faithful erupted.
“It can be about chain reactions sometimes, and for this team, it definitely is; somebody has to have that spark,” Tuscarora head coach Bridget Kemp said. “So for Katie to come up and hit that home run, it was exhilarating.”
[adrotate group=”6″]As Scheivert sprinted around the bases, her teammates met her at the plate to celebrate their new lead—however, one teammate had to quickly refocus.
Scheivert’s younger sister Lillie was due up next and the fellow Delaware-commit now had a new mission: add to the lead.
Like her older sister, the younger Scheivert showed bunt on her first pitch, taking a ball outside. Then, like her sister, on the second pitch of the at-bat, Lillie took a rise ball up and away. Scheivert then took a strike down the middle, setting up a 2-1 count.
On the next pitch, the Orange County pitcher got too much of the plate as Scheivert deposited the pitch deep over the left field fence to increase the Huskies’ lead to 2-0.
“It was even more exciting seeing her ball go out than mine. I’ve never been happier than in that moment.”
—Tuscarora senior shortstop Katie Scheivert
Orange County sophomore starter Hannah Hearl eventually got out of the inning, giving her team one last shot to put runs on the board.
And the Hornets did just that as senior catcher Reese Rogers hit a 2-2 pitch over the fence just left of center to lead off the seventh and cut the Tuscarora lead to just 2-1.
After the Hornets reached on a bunt single to put the tying run on base, Tuscarora junior ace Lindsey Mullen had seen enough.
“She’s a competitor. She’s not going to let something like that get in her way,” Kemp said. “She’s always in control, and she’s worked her butt off to make sure outside factors don’t affect her ability to go out there and do her job one pitch at a time.”
As she had done in the first, second, and third innings, Mullen put her game face on and struck out the side in the seventh to shut the door on the Hornets as the Huskies won their VHSL Class 4 State quarterfinal, 2-1, on June 7 in Leesburg.
“I just tried to stay focused and tune out the cheering from their side,” Mullen said. “I knew my teammates would have my back no matter what happened.”
With the win, Tuscarora will head back to the state semifinals for the third time in their last four seasons when the Huskies travel to Riverbend High School to square off with Region 4B runner up King George on June 10 at 10 a.m in a VHSL Class 4 State semifinal.
“We’ve been working really hard all season. Of course, we have a ton of talent, but we also have a lot of heart,” Mullen said. “We’re like a family here, and we’re extremely excited to be heading down to Fredericksburg.”
Derrick Jerry captured 75+ photos at the game!
Tuscarora Batting
| Tuscarora | AB | H | BB | R | RBI | K |
| Lindsey Mullen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Katie Scheivert | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Lillie Scheivert | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Tristin Koerner | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lillie Wools | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Olivia Bruns | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hannah Schmittle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mary Hackman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Lisa Zorb | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 21 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
Orange County Batting
| Orange County | AB | H | BB | R | RBI | K |
| Kennon Burnett | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Reese Rogers | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Haley Martin | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Ja’chelle Mosley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Maci Fayard | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Hannah Hearl | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Raniya Bright | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Megan Fincham | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jessy Reynolds | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | 23 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
Tuscarora Pitching
| Tuscarora | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Lindsey Mullen (W) | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| Totals | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
Orange County Pitching
| Orange County | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K |
| Hannah Hearl (L) | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Totals | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |