Williamsburg sweeps Solon in Wamac battle of top-10 Class 3A softball teams

SOLON — Williamsburg’s magic number is four.

According to its eighth-year softball coach Adam Berte, if the Class 3A top-ranked Raiders can score at least four runs, they are tough to beat.

Sophomore pitcher Jersey Metz is a big reason why.

“She really changes speeds really well,” Berte said after Williamsburg swept No. 10 Solon, 4-2 and 6-1, in a Wamac Conference cross-divisional doubleheader Monday at Solon High School. “We like her drop ball. She throws a curve a little bit, maybe more of a curve this year. She has a combination of pitches that you can get people out with. When she throws them the way she wants to, she’ll be hard to score on.”

Metz improved to 6-3 this season after pitching all seven innings in Game 1. She allowed five hits and two runs with one walk and four strikeouts.

“Drop (ball) and changing off-speed (pitches) was really working tonight,” Metz said. “I think that is my biggest strength.”

The victory was the 30th in the varsity career for Metz, who was Williamsburg’s No. 2 starter behind current Kirkwood pitching standout Peyton Driscoll in each of the past two seasons. Two years ago as an eighth-grader, Metz won 11 games and notched 37 strikeouts as Williamsburg placed third at state. Last year, she won 13 and upped her strikeout total to 88 as the Raiders won their first state softball championship.

With Driscoll now befuddling batters at the junior-college level, Metz has ascended to the top starting spot in the circle for the defending 3A state champions.

“Working hard in the offseason and just staying confident while I am out there on the mound and trusting my defense has helped me a lot,” Metz said. “Because I wouldn’t be able to do it without my defense, so just trusting them has helped me a lot.”

Behind Metz in Game 1, Williamsburg freshman Taylor Sanchez drove in two runs, while junior Alley Gorsh homered for the first time this season. In the nightcap, Gorsh collected four hits, drove in a run and improved her pitching record to 5-0.

After dropping three straight games two weeks ago, Williamsburg (13-3, 10-1 Wamac) has now won eight in a row and has won 55 of its last 56 games when scoring at least four runs.

“Offensively if we score, we’re going to be fine,” Berte said. “Our pitching is a little bit different in what they are going to do this year versus last year, but it is not much different in how many runs we are going to give up if we didn’t defend. We have shown we can score on good pitching over the years. It is just a matter of time until that comes around, I think, and I feel like we are a pretty good team once we do.”

Freshman Laeni Hinkle clubbed her first varsity home run for Solon (8-7, 8-4), which hosts two games with Grinnell Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, Williamsburg will play its second marquee Wamac doubleheader of the week when it welcomes No. 4 Mount Vernon (15-4, 7-4) to Jim Turner Field.

“Just play our best,” Metz said. “Focus and we’ll be fine.”