Wamac division leaders Williamsburg, Mount Vernon battle to a softball split

MOUNT VERNON — The postgame huddle had broken up, and Elle Ridgeway was on the Van Metre Family Softball Field turf, getting some work done on her back.

The therapist? Peyton Driscoll.

“I did an internship in a chiropractor’s office,” Driscoll said. “Massage, physical therapy, all of that stuff ... it’s so cool.”

Driscoll was pretty cool in the pitcher’s circle Wednesday night, too. The senior pitched a 12-strikeout, one-hit gem to lead Class 3A top-ranked Williamsburg to a 2-0 win over No. 6 Mount Vernon in the first game of a Wamac Conference doubleheader.

“I used to be really nervous in games like this, because we always used to be the underdog,” Driscoll said. “But I put in all of this work in the offseason, and I trust my stuff.”

Driscoll (9-0) got all the support she needed early. The Raiders (18-2 overall, 13-1 Wamac) got a tally in the second and another in the third.

Kalon Spratt doubled home courtesy runner Mya Simmons, then Ridgeway’s long single plated Shannon Finn.

Driscoll retired the first nine batters she faced and took a no-hitter into the seventh before Mount Vernon’s eighth-grade star-to-be Hayden Gookin broke it up with a double to lead off the last inning.

The reigning 3A state champion, Mount Vernon (16-3, 10-2) won the nightcap, 6-2, enhancing its Wamac East Division title hopes.

“We lost a lot of kids from last year (to graduation), but we had some kids waiting in the wings,” Mustangs Coach Robin Brand said. “They’re fearless against anybody. They step up and do their job.”

Gookin collected three hits in the nightcap and drove in three runs, two on a triple to right field in the third inning.

Driscoll has pitched Williamsburg to three straight top-three finishes at the state tournament. Her volume of innings (62) has been down this season in an effort to have her fresh for a July run.

“We’re saving my arm for the big games later,” she said. “We don’t want to just rely on me (pitching), we want the other girls to be comfortable in themselves.”

Williamsburg 2-2, Mount Vernon 0-6

At Mount Vernon

Game 1

Williamsburg 011 000 0 — 2 6 1

Mount Vernon 000 000 0 — 0 1 1

Peyton Driscoll and Jenna Thurm. Hayden Gookin and Kenna Rollinger. W — Driscoll (9-0). L — Gookin (10-1).

Game 2

Williamsburg 000 002 0 — 2 7 0

Mount Vernon 003 021 x — 6 9 2

Jersey Metz, Sloane Curtin (5) and Jenna Thurm. Olivia Haverback and Kenna Rollinger. W — Haverback (4-0). L — Metz (8-2).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com