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TRENTON — Perhaps it was a changing of the guard in the Fort Ancient Valley Conference. Or maybe it was just one very bad day for Ross High School’s softball team.
There is no disputing this: Edgewood is on top of the FAVC West Division after blasting the visiting Rams 12-2 in six innings Tuesday afternoon.
“We were so pumped up for this,” said Cougars sophomore third baseman Brittany Banks, who went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs. “Winning the league is our No. 1 goal. I think we’re finally going to get that goal this year.”
Edgewood coach Wayne Asher was thrilled with the win, but cautioned against celebrating too early. Indeed, the Cougars must travel to Ross today.
“I feel like there are four teams in our league that can beat us, so this is just one out of eight wins we need to get,” Asher said. “And I’ve never won a league by winning the first game. It’s a very good start, but it’s just a start.”
Kayla Harmon and Jenn Prushing both had three hits and scored three runs as Edgewood, 4-3 overall and 3-0 in the FAVC, smacked 13 hits against RHS ace Gina Huff.
The Rams, hoping to capture their 25th straight league championship, committed six errors and slipped to 1-4, 0-1.
“It’s a new year and a new team, and just like every year, we’ve got to reprove ourselves,” Ross coach Paul Fernandez said. “We can’t make the mental and physical mistakes that we made today and think we’re going to beat anyone in this league.
“We’ll see how we act and react from it,” he added. “We’re going to find out what we’re made of right off the bat.”
The Rams avoided the shutout with a two-run single by Marcy Warman in the top of the sixth. Warman and Shelby Richards each had two hits.
The Cougars completed the run-rule affair with five runs in the bottom of the sixth, powered by Banks’ three-run homer over the left-field fence.
“I knew it was gone as soon as I hit it. ... I was ecstatic,” Banks said of her third long ball of the year. “We wanted to beat Ross so bad. They think they can beat us, but we have some players that can win anything. We’re going to do the same thing tomorrow.”
Junior Emilee Pigg pitched a six-hitter for Edgewood, striking out one while walking nobody. Bree Williams and Prushing have thrown more innings this year, but Asher said he opted to go with Pigg after talking with his pitchers.
“Just a gut feeling,” Asher said. “I know she’s going to field the middle, and I knew Ross was going to put the ball in play.”
Kaysie Hall collected two hits and two RBIs for Edgewood. Carley Wright and Prushing both plated a run, and Wright, Hall and Taylor Berry all had doubles. Molly Ann Harris and Warman doubled for the Rams.
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