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Looking to
the big game
By Chris Krapf
Special to the Rappahannock News
The Rappahannock County High School softball team hopes it does not find itself in a Steele trap Tuesday afternoon.
A Courtney Steele trap, that is.
“Our biggest game of the season is Tuesday,” Rappahannock County head coach Richie Burke said. “If the girls want to win districts, we have to beat Manassas Park. If we don’t beat Manassas Park, it’s going to be scratching and clawing for us.”
The Lady Panthers travel Tuesday afternoon to face Group A Bull Rim District rival Manassas Park. And when they arrive, they can expect to see Steele, one of the top players in the district.
Steele, who, along with Rappahannock junior Rebecca Tupper, were the district selections at pitcher a year ago, sports a 1.92 eamed-run average with 71 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched. She is also Manassas Park’s big bat, as she is hitting .624 with four home runs and 11 runs batted in in just 24 at-bats.
“We can beat them,” said Burke, following Rappahannock’s 86 win over Eastern Mennonite High School Monday afternoon. “We’ve got to want it.”
Manassas Park, Rappahannock and Madison are considered the top three softball teams in the district. Beating Manassas Park at its field would be a confidence builder for the Lady Panthers, who have just one senior on their roster. A loss would put Rappahannock under pressure to win at home later in the season just to keep pace with the other top teams.
The key, however, is not to allow Steele to dominate the game.
“We didn’t let her beat us Qast spring),” Burke added. “You don’t give her anything good to hit.”
In Monday’s win over Eastern Mennonite, Rappahannock pounded out 11 hits, including a 4-for-4 effort from sophomore third baseman Noel Johns, who also drove in two runs. Freshman shortstop Emily Carter had a pair of hits.
The Lady Panthers scored all of their runs in the first four innings. Then, Burke made some substitutions so some of his younger players could gain some experience.
The win over Eastern Mennonite came at an excellent time, as Rappahannock rebounded from a 2-1 loss Friday afternoon at Page County.
Rappahannock managed just two hits, one from Ashleigh Lamina and the other from Katie Burke against the Cougars. Tupper allowed six hits in taking the loss for the Lady Panthers.
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