Gap Punches Ticket To State With Shutout Win Over Rappahannock

BUFFALO GAP – Buffalo Gap is going back to the state softball tournament. So what else is new?

The Bison clinched at least their ninth-straight trip to the top level Tuesday by completely overwhelming the outmatched Rappahannock County Panthers 10-0 in a five-inning, mercy-rule Region 1B semifinal game that lasted only 57 minutes.

The top-seeded Bison (12-6) host second-seeded William Campbell at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the regional championship. The Generals routed third-seeded Altavista 12-2 in Tuesday's other semifinal mismatch.

Gap sophomore Rachel Showalter lost her bid for a perfect game in the fifth and final inning when Jayden Whitt grounded a hard shot just to the left of shortstop Bailey Tribble, who knocked the ball down but had no play at first base.

That was the only ball hit hard off Showalter, who almost was toying with the Panther batters. She struck out eight and only allowed one fly ball to the outfield.

“My screwball has been working really well lately,” she said. “I have also been working on my riseball.”

Showalter wasn't bothered by losing a chance at a perfect game on the next-to-last batter.

“We work as a team and not individually,” she said. “We want to keep this thing rolling.”

While Showalter was taking care of business in the circle, her teammates supplied plenty of offensive firepower with 12 hits, including a pair of home runs. Elissa Caricofe ripped a two-run shot in a four-run third that halted a slow start by the Bison, while Tribble launched a two-run blast to dead center in the fourth.

“Our timing was off early on because we haven't played in more than a week,” Caricofe said. “I was trying to do too much in my first at-bat, but I told myself to be confident in what I was doing.”

Caricofe and Showalter know slow starts are dangerous as the competition gets better on the road.

“We need better starts to make it less difficult,” Caricofe said. “We definitely want to win the regional title and stay at home for the state quarterfinals.”

Gap head coach Holly Desper agreed the slow start could be traced to the prolonged down time, plus the competition wasn't quite there.

“That's not the caliber of play we are use to seeing in our district,” she said. “We can't afford bad starts moving forward. We want to stay at home as much as possible. Travel throws another loop into the equation.”

Desper pointed out another distraction … no more school.

“A lot of the girls have jobs now, which makes scheduling practices tricky,” she said. “It's hard to keep the motivation and focus at a high level right now.”

Rappahannock County (5-16) gave up 10 or more runs in 16 games during the season, including Tuesday.

The Bison took a 1-0 lead in the first when Tribble led off with a single, stole second and scored on Avery Wheeler's infield hit.

The offense finally started clicking in the third. Tribble reached on a single and scored all the way from first on Wheeler's slow-rolling single into shallow right. Then Caricofe unloaded her 10th round-tripper of the season. McKenzie Woods singled and scored the inning's fourth run on a fielding error.

Three more tallies in the fourth pushed the game to the brink of the 10-run rule. No. 9 hitter Charleigh Phillips stroked a one-out double and Tribble followed with her two-run rocket. Wheeler singled and later plated on Caricofe's sacrifice fly to center.

Desper went to her bench to bring the game to a merciful conclusion in the fifth. Pinch-hitters Presleigh Hoy and Hannah Coffman reached on a single and fielder's choice, respectively. Freshman pinch-hitter Makenzie Wooddell put the cap on things by drilling an opposite-field double to right.

Wheeler had three hits and two runs scored. Tribble added two hits, two RBI and three runs, while Woods had two hits. Caricofe drove in three runs and Wooddell two on her game-ending double.