Softball: Central softball the gold standard for futility (04-14-06)
Struggling Falcons have lost 28 straight, and 46 of 47, but still remain positive -- By Ryan Sonner (Daily Staff Writer)
QUICKSBURG — Whitney Mauck is the only player on the Central softball roster to ever experience a victory.
She's the only one who knows what it feels like to walk off the field with a smile on her face, the only one who has ever celebrated while the opposing team sulked.
Whitney Mauck has won before — she just can't remember when.
"I have no idea," the senior shortstop said following Thursday's 5-1 loss at Stonewall Jackson. "I know it was my sophomore year."
Central's last victory was May 24, 2004, a dominating 16-2 win over former Shenandoah District foe Buffalo Gap in the regular-season finale. Since then, the Falcons have lost 28 straight games and 46 of their last 47. Going back to the 2003 season, Central's has dropped 57 of 66 games.
It's Jill Yew's job to stop the bleeding, a job she takes seriously. Yew was an assistant for the Falcons (0-8) from 1997 to 2002. She came back this year as the head coach when Rob Ayres bolted for a job as an assistant football coach at Fauquier High School.
Some may have wondered who would be crazy enough to inherit a program that hasn't won in nearly two years — and one that moved into the Group AA Northwestern District this year — but Yew has never second guessed the decision.
"Softball is something I love," she said. "That's what I love to coach."
The streak was nearly broken last Friday against Warren County until Mother Nature made an appearance in Front Royal. The Wildcats led 5-4 after six innings, but the Falcons scored two runs in the top of the seventh to take a 6-5 lead.
The Falcons took the field to begin the bottom of the seventh, each player knowing they were three outs away from exhilaration.
That's when the rains came and washed everything away.
Central was on the team bus, waiting for the rain and lightning to stop when Yew noticed a throng of people leaving the facility.
"I got off the bus to find out what was going on and one of the parents from the other team told me that the game was called," Yew said.
But didn't the umpires inform both coaches of their decision to end the game?
"No, sir," Yew said. "That was very frustrating. As far as I'm concerned, the umpires should have had the decency to call both coaches together and ask our opinions."
According to Yew, Warren County coach Fred Little was also made aware of the decision by a parent of one of his players. And, according to Virginia High School League rules, Central had just lost the game.
In that situation — because the seventh inning had not been completed — the scorebook goes back to the last completed inning: Warren County 5, Central 4.
"That was awful," Mauck said. "It was one of the worst feelings I've ever felt. We felt like we did the best we could and we didn't get rewarded for it."
That will come soon enough, Yew said. It's all about keeping a positive attitude and not focusing on the past. So far this season, Central has played in several nail-biters, not including the Warren County fiasco. The Falcons dropped a one-run decision to Millbrook and a two-run game to Sherando.
The talent to win is there. The only question is when.
"We need to keep working and it'll come," Yew said. "If you don't believe, you're not going to get anywhere. We're getting there. It's within reach."
