Altavista grounds Gretna on Short’s no-hit, 13-strikeout gem

ALTAVISTA — Dogwood District Player and Pitcher of the Year Brooke Short pitched a perfect game and struck out 13 as Altavista swept both the district regular season and tournament titles with a 10-0 victory over defending tournament champion Gretna on Friday.

Short was downright dominant after being rocked two Wednesdays ago against the Hawks in both teams’ regular-season finale. Gretna (14-6) got the ball out of the infield once against the southpaw — a first inning fly ball off the bat of Nichole Mills — and put the ball in play another seven times.

“It’s great. (I was) kind of nervous coming in after the game last week at Gretna,” Short said after allowing nine runs in that game. “After the first three outs, I just felt it. I felt like I had a lot of power tonight unlike the last game we played them.”

Mills and Kelley Dalton were the only Hawks batters to not strike out against Short, who recorded two or more strikeouts in the second through sixth innings, including setting down the side in the sixth.

“Offensively, when we stepped to the plate today, we weren’t focused, at all,” Gretna coach Ketina Brooks said. “Obviously, that hurt us and Brooke pitched a good game.”

Short helped her own cause, sending the first pitch she saw over the centerfield wall to give Altavista (13-4) a 2-0 lead. She went 2-for-2 at the plate, reaching base all four times and driving in three. Mallory Greene, who was named to the Dogwood District first team, added a fifth-inning home run and drove in two runs.

The Colonels will host Randolph-Henry on Monday at 5 p.m. in the first round of the Region B tournament. The Hawks will be on the road against Buckingham on Monday at 5 p.m.

Mills settled down after giving up Short’s home run and retired the next seven batters to keep the Hawks close. Two singles and a three-base error later, the flood gates opened up. Mills was victim to both a hot-hitting Altavista team and an ever-changing strike zone. Mills went six innings, allowing six earned runs on 11 hits and striking out seven batters.

“I think that if we had gotten that one good double to start us off, we would have started as a hitting team and been completely in the game in the hitting side,” Gretna shortstop Carrie Dudley said after being named first-team All-Dogwood. “If we could have gotten that one good hit, we would have been OK.”

Altavista’s Kacey Angell, who was named the Dogwood second team, and Nicole Wade each went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

“I just told the girls out there that there’s not many times as athletes or coaches that you witness perfection,” Altavista coach Tim Fenn said. “I told these girls all year that we strive to be perfect every game and it’s just an honor to witness that.”

Gretna has to rebound from this on their path to repeat as Group A, Division 2 state champion. The Buckingham County Knights won the James River District regular season title.

“I’m praying that we can bounce back from this,” Brooks said. “I told them at the huddle today that they had absolutely nothing to hold their heads down for. We play in a tough district from top to bottom and it’s fairly competitive and tough. We had to work hard all week in order to get to this point and we’re grateful for being at this point. Hopefully we can shake this off tonight… and prepare for Buckingham.”