Williamsburg sweeps Marion in its regular-season home finale

WILLIAMSBURG — It’s just a matter of time.

Eventually, some slugger from Williamsburg is going to wreck a windshield or dent a fender beyond the left-field fence.

Quite surprisingly, Elle Ridgeway hasn’t done it yet.

“Not that I know of, anyway,” she said. “But I’ve been striking it pretty well lately.”

Ridgeway’s second home run Wednesday put the finishing touches on Class 3A top-ranked Williamsburg’s Wamac Conference softball sweep of Marion — 8-2 and 9-4 — at Jim Turner Field.

Wednesday marked Senior Night for the Raiders (24-3 overall, 17-1 Wamac), who play their final 13 regular-season games away from home.

Surely, they’ll be back here for regionals, heavily favored to reach their fourth consecutive state tournament.

“This season is a big accomplishment so far,” Ridgeway said. “Hopefully we can keep playing like we need to.”

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Marion (12-15, 7-9) battled the Raiders to a 3-3 draw through five innings of the nightcap before the hostesses cut loose with six tallies in the sixth.

It started with some bunts and speed and ended on Ridgeway’s bomb, her seventh of the season.

“We always seem to play well when we need to,” Ridgeway said. “Everybody has been hitting well. It’s not like we have three or four hitters that carry us.”

The first four batters of the sixth reached, including bunt singles by Peyton Driscoll and Makenna Hughes.

“It was good for us to play a close game,” Williamsburg Coach Adam Berte said. “The girls stepped up when they needed to step up.”

Williamsburg faced an early 1-0 deficit in the first game (Michaela Goad’s sacrifice fly put the Wolves in front), but Ridgeway erased that with a two-run shot between a dark SUV and a white pickup beyond the left-field fence.

The Raiders broke it open with four in the third.

Ridgeway, Driscoll, Jenna Thurm and Rylie Metz have been the nucleus of the Class of 2023. They’ve lifted the program to unprecedented heights.

“The (senior) class from 2020 really started this,” Berte said. “And this group has continued it and taken it to another level.”

Williamsburg 8-9, Marion 2-4

At Williamsburg

Game 1

Marion 101 000 0 — 2 4 1

Williamsburg 204 200 x — 8 10 2

Lucy Turner, Paige Johnson (3), Turner (5) and Peyton Johnson. Peyton Driscoll and Jenna Thurm. W — Driscoll (12-1). L — Pa. Johnson (0-1). HR — MAR: Johnson (8), WILL: Elle Ridgeway (6).

Game 2

Marion 000 030 1 — 4 6 1

Williamsburg 021 006 x — 9 11 1

Mya Chamberlin and Peyton Johnson. Jersey Metz, Sloane Curtin (5) and Jenna Thurm. W — Curtin (1-0). L — Chamberlin (7-9). HR — WILL: Elle Ridgeway (7).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com