Warhawk Softball Ends Season With 9-4 Loss At Woodson

The James Madison Warhawks ended their season Friday night with a 9-4 loss at W.T. Woodson High School. 

The Cavaliers scored eight unanswered runs in their last three innings to pull off a late game comeback and move on to the second round of the Northern Region tournament.

Senior pitcher Naomi Kennedy recorded a total of five strikeouts in the game and held the Warhawks hitless in the top of the sixth inning to help secure the victory.

“They hit the ball,” said Warhawks Head Coach John Schneeberger after the frustrating loss. “They hit the ball late and we didn’t.  Our pitching just didn’t measure up late in the game and they were able to get all those runs.”

Madison took a 4-1 lead early in the game, but their young squad -- which features a total of five freshman -- seemed rattled by the late-game momentum swing by the Cavaliers. They couldn't get hits late in the game against Kennedy.

“They were in our district last year so they knew a lot about us,” said Schneeberger, referring to the senior-heavy Woodson team. “They’ve got a couple of girls that can just flat out hit the ball, their centerfielder just flat hit the ball so it makes a big difference."

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning, Woodson senior catcher Shannon McCloud stepped up to the plate and hit an RBI double up the right center gap to tie the game at 4-4.

The Cavs took a 6-4 lead heading into the sixth inning, and McCloud again came through with another RBI to make it 7-4.  She finished with a total of three RBIs in the game.

The Warhawks

Schneeberger mentioned EmJ Fogle, Mary Bollinger and Kristyn Buscemi for having great hitting years  for the Warhawks.

“We are awful young, people forget we have five freshman out there at times,” said Schneeberger. “We’ve got a lot of players coming back so we’ll be alright, but we’ve got to improve our pitching and have stamina to go a little bit harder. At times everyone was waiting for Sam to get it done.”

The victory places the Cavaliers in a second round match-up with the Westfield Bulldogs at 1 p.m. on Memorial Day.