Three Henderson-Vance pitchers combined on a one-hitter as the 12-and-under girls softball team cruised to a 13-3 five-inning win against host Cherry Hill, N.J., in the opening game of the championship round at the Babe Ruth World Series today.
Henderson-Vance combined six hits with nine walks and six Cherry Hill errors to end the game an inning early under the 10-run rule. Henderson-Vance scored in every inning and closed out the game with five unearned runs in the fifth. Right fielder Bailey Hughes had the only hit in that final inning, when Cherry Hill committed four errors.
Cherry Hill also had five wild pitches and four passed balls.
Jessica Rowland earned the win for Henderson-Vance by pitching two perfect innings and striking out five of the six batters she faced. Allison Perry and Morgan Adcock provided solid relief. Perry pitched two innings and had three strikeouts while giving up one hit and one earned run. Adcock struck out the side in the fifth but also gave up two unearned runs because of a walk, a hit batter and an error by Lindsey Carroll at third base.
Adcock had a perfect day at the plate, producing a single, two walks, a stolen base and three runs in three plate appearances.
Carroll, Rowland, Victoria Burwell and Natalie Reavis also had hits for Henderson-Vance. Twelve of 13 Henderson-Vance batters reached base.
The victory gave Henderson-Vance, the National Division’s No. 2 seed, a record of 4-1 in the World Series. More important, it kept Henderson-Vance in the winners’ bracket of the double-elimination championship round.
The five-inning game and three-way split of the pitching also helped Henderson-Vance save energy for the team’s second game of the day, set for this afternoon against the American Division’s No. 1 seed, Stamford, Conn.
A win would put Henderson-Vance into a game at 5 p.m. Thursday with a spot in Saturday’s final at stake. A loss would force the team to play for its survival at 3 p.m. Thursday.