Girls win

Micalah Sacre struck out 16 of the 22 batters she faced and homered in the second inning as Orange beat Poquoson 2-0 Tuesday to advance to the State AA semifinals Friday in Radford. The win gives the Hornets a rematch with Broad Run who beat Orange 2-1 last Saturday.
On a steamy afternoon on the peninsula, Sacre was too hot for the homestanding Islanders. She fanned the side in the first inning and struck out two more in second and two more in the third. She struck out the side again in the fourth and got two ground-ball outs in the fifth.
The only time the Islanders ever threatened to score was with two outs in the seventh, Nicole Windham doubled. Facing the Islanders’ clean-up hitter, Sacre struck her out too to end the game.
Meanwhile, she and Paige Pritchett gave the Hornets all the runs they’d need in the second inning. Sacre hit a two-out homerun to left field. Then Pritchett promptly jacked one over the right field fence to give Orange a 2-0 advantage that Sacre made sure held up.
The Hornets earned a rematch with Region II champs Broad Run who beat Powhatan 5-0 Tuesday.
Fresh off Thursday’s Region II semifinal win, the Hornets traveled to Broad Run High School to face the three-time Region II champion and two-time defending state champion Spartans in the Region II finals.
Orange had a scoring chance in the first after Micalah Sacre singled, but she was stranded at third and the Hornets took the field.
It didn’t take the homestanding Spartans long to get on the board.
With two outs, the Spartan’s Jenn Saroka walked, advanced on a fielder’s choice and scored just ahead of the throw on Anna Blessing’s single. Like that, it was 1-0 Broad Run.
Then Spartan pitcher Judy Betz started setting the Hornets down in order-three-up, three-down in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.
Meanwhile, Broad Run added to their lead when Megan Waterman singled and reached third after a sacrifice and a steal. Maggie Betz dribbled a grounder to Spencer at third and after checking Waterman, threw to first. Waterman broke for home and slid just ahead of Paige Pritchett’s tag to give the home team an insurance run. They’d need it.
After struggling to get anything going against Betz, the Hornets scratched for a run in the top of the seventh. Pritchett doubled and scored on Megan Roberts’ ground-out. But Orange could only cut into the lead, not tie the game and the Hornets lost 2-1.
Sacre and Jenkins combined to allow only three hits and two runs, with Sacre striking out seven.
For two innings, the Hornets were cruising in their Region II semifinal matchup with Briar Woods. The Hornets had scored twice in the bottom of the first inning and Jenkins was setting down the Falcons without much trouble.
But in the top of the third, Jenkins was relieved by Sacre, who walked Alexandra Fierszt to lead off the inning. She struck out Holly Dominguez, but a single and an error later and the Falcons had cut the Hornets’ lead in half.
Sacre and the Hornets settled down in the fourth, but when Jenkins returned to pitch the fifth, Briar Woods tied the game at 3-3.
But Jenkins set the Falcons down in order in the top of the sixth and the Hornets offense responded at the most opportune time.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Toni Tribble singled and scored on Tina Spencer’s RBI triple. Sacre walked and Pritchett singled home Spencer to give the Hornets a 5-3 advantage.
Sacre made it stand up, fanning the side in the top of the seventh to earn the save. Jenkins pitched four innings of two-run, two-strikeout ball, while Sacre threw three innings of one-run, seven strikeout ball.
Spencer, Pritchett and Tribble each had two hits for the Hornets.