Wildcats' run ends in district semis

By Michael Petre -- sports@nvdaily.com

NOKESVILLE -- Her last warm-up pitch flew high and outside, just out of the reach of her catcher, and Warren County freshman Nicole King dropped her head, shaking it in frustration.

Even during breaks in the action -- this one coming in the fourth inning with her team down a dozen runs -- nothing was going right for the Warren County softball team Tuesday.

Brentsville battered the Wildcats and pitcher Grace Nordan held them hitless in a 15-0 victory in six innings in the Northwestern District tournament semifinals. The victory, coupled with regular-season champion Sherando's win against Handley, clinched Brentsville's fourth straight appearance in the Region II tournament.

Suffice to say, it was a frustrating end to the Wildcats' season. But after going winless in 2008 -- a year that ended with an 18-1 loss on this same diamond -- the final memory of an 11-11 season shouldn't be quite as painful.

"They got to us early," coach Justin Stock said. "It's pretty tough to come back from that. ... It didn't matter if they only scored one run; I don't think we were gonna beat them as well as [Nordan] was throwing today."

Nordan posted 13 strikeouts in what coach Amy Beard believed was her first no-hitter of the season. The offense came early; Brentsville's first five batters scored, and the Tigers (16-4) had a 7-0 lead before King could wriggle out of the first inning.

"I was just off today," King said. "My curves were working, but [the home-plate umpire] wasn't calling the outside of the plate at all. ... And they came in ready to beat us. I don't think we came in ready to play."

When these teams met May 12, the Wildcats won 4-3 in Front Royal, possibly their most important victory of the season. The teams' other regular-season matchup was a 4-3 Brentsville victory in late March, so Tuesday's one-sided outcome was a shocker.

"I thought we played the best we could possibly play in those first two games," Stock said. "And they have a little more experience than we do."

Stock took over the team on its first day of practice last season and realized he had plenty of work ahead of him. His battery -- catcher Taylor Bass handles King's every pitch -- were spectators as eighth-graders, taking part in every practice but unavailable to compete.

An 0-20 season followed -- "We had to watch every game, and they'd get crushed," Bass said -- and a few players moved away in the offseason, further depleting Stock's squad. But by adding King, far and away the area leader in strikeouts this season, and Bass, a powerful presence at the plate and a leader behind it, Stock thought a turnaround was imminent.

That's what he got, and now it's what he'll build on.

"Next year, they're going to be a tough, tough team," Beard said.

But that doesn't make Tuesday's outcome any easier to swallow.

"We didn't want it to end like this," Stock smiled, "but sometimes you win and sometimes you wish it would have rained."