Softball: Huskies' Late Rally Falls Short of ISL Title

After being shut out for five innings, the Flint Hill softball team mounted a sixth-inning rally that fell short of earning them the Independent School League title Sunday.

St. Stephens/St. Agnes defeated the Huskies 8-4 for their second ISL title in three years.

The Saints tallied six runs over the first five innings, three of which were driven in by pitcher Alexis Sargent, who went 4 for 4 on Sunday. The Huskies starting pitcher, Maggie Jardot, struck out two and gave up six hits in three innings of work. Reliever Monica Brendsel struck out five and gave up seven hits.

Sargent, who struck out 13 in her complete game showing, kept the Huskies to one hit through five innings. In the sixth inning, she put two people on base after throwing a walk and hitting a batsman.

Michelle Abt, a freshman, earned the first Huskies hit in the fifth.

"It felt really good after the whole team had been battling for so long for someone to show her that we could hit off of her," Abt said. 

With two outs, freshman Emily Davine hit a groundball to second base, which was bobbled to allow the Huskies' first run. Senior Michelle Webber followed with a two-run double and Abt hit an RBI single to put the Huskies down 6-4 at the end of the sixth.

"We pretty much had nothing to lose at that point. We had two innings left to play, and we just had to start hitting," Abt said. "Once we did, we had confidence and it kept the pressure off us. All we had to do was just hit a couple and let them make the errors to bring in some runs."

But Sargent gave the Saints more of a cushion with a two-run line drive double in the bottom of the sixth. Though the Huskies would put the tying run at second base in the seventh, they fell short of scoring again to lose 8-4.

The Huskies' season continues in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Assosciation Tournament, which pits them against Bishop O'Connell on Tuesday.

"We know O'Connell is going to be a tough competition, but I think we all feel like if we play well and to the best of our ability, and play like we have nothing to lose, we'll have a good shot," Abt said.