One for the record book

By Dave Utnik

Published: May 16, 2008

A ferocious wind swirled across the softball diamond at Brentsville High School Friday night, bringing with it ominous clouds and a blustery fury that made ponytails sway and jerseys ripple.

Tree limbs bent, lawn chairs were toppled and spectators scurried for any source of extra warmth they could find in the form of sweatshirts and jackets.

Standing in the batter’s box with a helmet perched atop her head in the bottom of the first in-ning, freshman Abby Carpenter ignored it all. The Tigers had a rally going in their Northwestern District Tournament game against Warren County and she just couldn’t wait to swing the bat.

“I didn’t feel the wind. There’s a lot of wind here all the time so we’re used to it,” Carpenter said. “All I knew is their pitcher was slow and (the pitch) was in my favorite spot.”

Then she recalls watching the softball rise into the air and Warren County’s outfielders sprint-ing toward the fence. Carpenter sprinted too, thinking that she might make it to third base if she really hurried. Only there was no need.

The ball disappeared beyond the fence in left field — landing well out of anyone’s reach — and then it dawned on the Tigers’ rookie first baseman that she’d just hit her first varsity home run.

“She was sprinting around second,” Brentsville coach Amy Beard said, chuckling a bit at the memory. “Then she got this big grin on her face and it was just planted there the rest of the night.”

Carpenter’s teammates did a lot of smiling, too. Nearly everyone contributed some sort of run-scoring blast in an 18-1 five-inning victory that propelled the regular season champions into Tues-day’s second round against either James Wood or Sherando.

Brentsville’s high-powered lineup produced 17 hits in four innings with the Tigers (17-1) batting around three times. And Carpenter’s two-run homer — a career milestone that capped a six-run first inning rally — was just the beginning.

Catcher Kaitlyn Barbour, the team’s cleanup batter, was 3 for 4 with two home runs and six RBI. Leadoff batter Grace Nordan had three hits, including a two-run double, and scored three times while shortstop Becky Tucker had a pair of RBI.

“I think it’s really exciting that we’re playing all these teams and we’re beating them all,” Car-penter said after the Tigers won their 15th consecutive game against district competition. “I knew most of the players here before I came here so I knew I was coming into something good.”

What these Tigers aspire to, however, is greatness. They’ve come close in the past — winning the regular season title last spring and a tournament championship the year before that.

But claiming both has been an elusive feat. So has advancing beyond early round play of the Re-gion II Tournament. Sophomore pitcher Devon Hileman, who allowed one run on four hits and struck out eight in five innings to earn the win, wants to alter that legacy.

“Winning the regular season is really cool. We won it last year but, as you know, we didn’t ex-actly get the tournament which is what we’re really working for this year,” Hileman said.

Between Hileman and Nordan, both sophomores, the circle is in good hands. And the lineup this time around is somewhat fierce.

The visiting Cougars tried three different pitchers against Brentsville on Friday and the Tigers pounded them all. Hileman doubled and scored two runs, right fielder Emily Neitzke went 2 for 2 and Chelsea Frascoia drove in two runs with a third-inning double. 

“I expect us to go further than last year, definitely,” Barbour said. “We have a lot of good team chemistry this year so I think we can make it as far as we want.”