Ain’t it grand?

By Shane Mettlen

Published: May 20, 2008

The Devilettes train just keeps chugging along. Next stop: the Cedar Run District semifinals.

A second-inning grand slam by senior shortstop Michelle Beall helped fuel Culpeper County High School’s 11-1 victory over visiting Osbourn Park Monday night in the opening round of the district softball tournament. Culpeper (15-4) will take on the winner of the Loudoun Valley/Fauquier quarterfinal Wednesday night at Osbourn.

“We want to play Loudoun,” Beall said. “We’re 1-1 against them and we want to show we can beat them twice in a row. We should be able to if we stay humble.”

The Devilettes have now outscored their opponents 41-2 in their past seven games — including a 25-1 advantage over OPHS in two meetings — but it was the Yellow Jackets that were playing with confidence in the early going. Sheila Davies doubled off CCHS pitcher Nichole Beall in the first inning and third baseman Lauren Stewart delivered an RBI single with two outs to give OPHS a 1-0 lead.

But the hot hitting Culpeper squad wasn’t down for long. Nichole Beall and Anna Klumpp each drew walks to start off the bottom of the first and both came around to score on a Logan Stephens single to right. The Devilettes then broke the game wide open in the second with the grand slam.

Osbourn Park starter Stephanie Kestermann intentionally walked Nichole Beall with two out and one on in the fourth before walking Klumpp to load the bases for Michelle, who drove a fastball well past the leftfield fence to put CCHS ahead 6-1.

“I guess I know what they were doing to walk Nichole and I knew Anna could step up there and do it,” Michelle Beall said. “When they walked her I got kind of anxious, but I just did my thing. After that we just kind of stayed up in the dugout and I guess the nerves kind of just went away after that.”

Culpeper put together another four-run frame in the fourth and scored once more in the fifth to put the cap on an all around dominant performance. Nichole Beall pitched all seven innings, allowing five hits and striking out seven. She also singled three times, walked twice and scored three runs. Michelle Beall finished the game with a single and a walk to go along with the four-run homer and also scored three times.

Stephens and catcher Sam May each drove in three runs for the Devilettes and Sarah Campbell singled and added an RBI. Sam Robson also went 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

“We’re hitting the ball really well,” Gillespie said. “It’s a lot of fun when they walk Nichole and Michelle hits a home run. We’ve struggled in years past offensively and this year we’ve just done great, so I’m not changing a thing.”

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext. 127 or