Short comes up big for Colonels at plate, on rubber

ALTAVISTA — Altavista’s Brooke Short is at the plate with the bases loaded. Do you walk her and concede the run, or do you pitch to her and risk even more damage?

Arcadia’s Alyssa Wilcox was faced with this conundrum Tuesday in the sixth inning of a Group A state quarterfinal playoff game. She elected to pitch to Short, who is batting north of .650 for the season, and Short sent a liner screaming down the right field line for a two-run, ground-rule double.

It was the final blow in a 4-1 Colonels win that advanced them to Friday’s state semifinals at Radford University.

“I was shocked (she pitched to me),” said Short, who plans to play softball at Division I Longwood next year. “Normally I’ll get pitched to once a game. It was an inside pitch, and that’s my favorite. It was low and inside.”

Short, the Dogwood District’s pitcher and player of the year, was a tough out for the visiting Firebirds, going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored. She was also dominant in the pitching circle, allowing only five baserunners (three hits, two hit batters) while striking out 14.

“She put the ball where she needed it to be, and she swung the bat like she wanted to win, and that was the difference in the game,” Firebirds coach Lisa McQueeney said of Short. “She’s got what it takes to go all the way.”

Short got through a shaky second inning, during which she yielded a double, hit a batter and allowed a run on a wild pitch — though there was debate whether the errant pitch hit the Arcadia player’s bat before going to the backstop — to retire 15 of the final 18 batters she faced.

She set down the final seven Arcadia batters on strikeouts.

“She missed her spots on a couple (of pitches), but not one batter hit her hard,” said Altavista coach Tim Fenn.

Altavista (17-4), making its first trip to the state playoffs, will vie this weekend to become the third different Dogwood District team to win the Group A championship in the last three years.

William Campbell started the streak in 2007 and Gretna continued it last season. The Colonels are two wins away from keeping it going. They face Essex on Friday at 10 a.m. at Radford.

“We’re on a winning streak, and we feel confident about every part of our game,” Short said. “Our main focus is to just keep winning and get all the way there.”

Short had a hand in three of the Colonels’ runs. She reached base in the first on an error and later scored what would end up being the winning run on a wild pitch.

Altavista first baseman Mallory Greene also hit an RBI groundout in the first inning to score centerfielder Amanda Sandridge, who went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Arcadia (14-4), which made the six-hour drive from the Eastern Shore to Altavista on Monday, answered in the top of the second. Wilcox reached base on a double to left field and advanced to third on a ground out. She later scored on what was ruled a wild pitch, but Fenn argued that the ball was fouled backwards.

In the end, the run was inconsequential. Altavista held a 2-1 lead through the top of the sixth and then busted the game open in the bottom of the sixth.

Nicole Wade and Kristen Gibson led off the Colonels’ sixth with singles. Then Fenn brought in Kacey Angell, who has been battling a sore left knee, to sacrifice them over. She laid down a bunt and gingerly jogged to first, expecting to get thrown out at first.

The throw went to third instead, but it was late, and everybody was safe. Two batters later, Short rocketed the ball down the right field line. She might have had a chance for a triple and a third RBI, but the ball trickled through an open gate in the outfield and was ruled dead.

That was more than enough run support for Short, who struck out the final three Firebird batters for the victory.

It was the Colonels, and Short’s, third victory in five days, and the team was understandably exhausted afterward. Short laid in the outfield for a few moments after the game in an attempt to catch her breath.

She said she plans to be rested and ready to go when her team takes on Essex on Friday with a trip to the state title game on the line.