By Angela Watts
Managing Content Editor, DigitalSports.com
** Look below the story to find two separate video players filled with dozens of highlights from both of Wednesday’s Northern Region softball semifinals.
Concorde District underdogs Herndon and Westfield — the district’s No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively, coming into the Northern Region Tournament — have gotten hot at precisely the right time.
One will walk away Friday as the reigning Northern Region champion.
But what mattered most to the players after Wednesday’s semifinal round at South County was the fact both teams will be representing the region when the Virginia AAA tournament starts next week.
“It’s amazing,” Herndon senior Katie Briggs said. “I can’t even put it into words. Even last week when we were thinking that we had to win three consecutive games to get to the state tournament this was hard to imagine, because we hadn’t done that in a few weeks and we’ve had so many setbacks this year. It’s amazing.
“I’m so happy for everyone. Like even our freshman [third baseman Julia Miller] I’m so happy for her that we all get to do this — to go to states — together.”
And as if the Bulldogs needed any added incentive: Westfield is the host site for this year’s Virginia AAA Spring Jubilee. That means, with just one victory in the opening round of the state tournament, the Bulldogs would earn a state semifinal game on its home field.
“My freshman year we actually made it all the way to states but we had lost in regionals so we went down to Virginia Beach,” Westfield senior centerfielder Anna Munizza said. “But I think it would be great to play at Westfield because it’s our home field and we know everything about it. We’ve got the perfect new stadium, so it’s really cool.”
Herndon, in the first game Wednesday night, scored four of its runs in the third inning and added another in the seventh to secure a 5-2 victory over Langley. The Hornets got on the board on an RBI single by junior shortstop Whitney Small, and then got a three-run blast over the centerfield fence by senior left fielder Stacy Fox, who was batting in the No. 8 slot for Herndon. Miller added an RBI single in the seventh.
Just before Fox stepped to the plate in the third, Briggs yelled to her from the dugout: “You were my hitting partner today, so that must be good luck or something!”
It was.
“I just had confidence and was hoping I was going to hit it,” Fox said. “I’ve been in a little slump, but it was just a little outside and I hit the sweet spot and drove it.”
Briggs and senior Katie Rynex split time in the pitching circle and each yielded only a single run to the Saxons, who scored in the fourth inning on an RBI by senior left fielder Hannah Shatzen and again in the fifth on a single by senior catcher Christina Bumpus.
Robinson took a one-run lead in the second half of the semifinal double-header, but Westfield rallied to score two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings for the 4-1 victory.
The Bulldogs, as they have been all season, were led offensively by freshman third baseman Frankie Martinez, who went 4-for-4 at the plate with four singles and one RBI. Westfield also got RBIs from sophomore left fielder Kasey McMahon, sophomore right fielder Tara McCrone and freshman shortstop Jess McNamara.
Bulldog pitchers Alex Tenney and Jennifer Goodman weren’t overpowering — but were certainly effective — in the pitching circle with the lone Ram run being scored in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by senior centerfielder Taryn Cutrona.
Tenney and Goodman, both freshmen, are two of eight underclassmen who saw playing time for Westfield in the semifinal on Wednesday.
“I don’t think they know what’s going on,” Ferington teased. “But no, really, they’re a very talented, young team. When we won in 1992, we didn’t have a senior on the team. So we know it’s possible. And right now we’re playing great.”
Email: awatts@digitalsports.com
GAME 1
Herndon 004 000 1 — 5
Langley 000 110 0 — 2
GAME 2
Westfield 000 022 0 — 4
Robinson 000 100 0 — 1
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