Devilettes dominate Vikings

By Shane Mettlen

Published: May 15, 2008

The Culpeper County High School softball team couldn’t have ended the regular season any better. Now the Devilettes are focused on starting the postseason the same way.

CCHS took advantage of every opportunity Wednesday evening against visiting Loudoun Valley and hammered the Vikings 4-0. The victory put the Devilettes in a tie with LVHS for second place in the final Cedar Run District standings, but Culpeper will be the No. 3 seed in the district tournament, which starts Monday when CCHS will play host to Osbourn Park.

The Devilettes got off to a quick start when leadoff hitter Nichole Beall beat out an infield single. Second baseman Anna Klumpp then reached on a fielder’s choice and Beall’s twin sister Michelle followed with a two-RBI double to right.

“I actually just wanted to hit the ball because my hitting has been struggling a little bit,” Michelle said. “That gave me a boost of confidence. We came in and had a talk before the game and we just basically said we might as well come out here and show them we’re better even though they beat us last time.”

Michelle Beall finished the game with three runs batted in and sister Nichole singled twice and scored a pair of runs. She also pitched a complete-game three-hitter, striking out nine.

It was a particularly intense effort on the part of Culpeper, which displayed an aggressive nature throughout. Catcher Sam May stretched a single into a double in the first after LVHS right fielder Logan Tretick hesitated to scoop up the bloop hit.

The Devilettes were caught stealing twice, but a steal by Nichole Beall in the third turned into a CCHS run when the throw to third base bounced into the outfield.

“I feel like going into the tournament we got to see what we can do,” CCHS coach Janice Gillespie said. “I felt like we had a good enough cushion that we could do a couple of things we don’t normally get to do. This team is right were it should be.”

Nichole Beall was also a pit bull in the pitchers’ circle. A pair of walks followed by a single from Loudoun Valley’s Brittany Latka loaded the bases in the top of the sixth. That brought up Viking designated player Carolina Williams, who represented the tying run at the plate and battled Beall to a full count with two out. That was when the CCHS pitcher delivered the hardest fastball of the night, blowing it by Williams to end the threat.

Latka finished the game with a pair of singles to lead LVHS and Logan Stephens and Sam Robson each added hits for the Devilettes.

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