CHARLOTTESVILLE — In just their second year in the Mid-Eastern Conference, the Eastern Hancock Royals softball team can call itself champion.
The Royals, needing one win over their final two conference games to claim at least a share of the MEC crown, came up short Friday in their first attempt, a 5-4 loss to Wapahani.
They made sure the same thing didn’t happen Tuesday against Cowan.
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In their last conference game of the season, the Royals scored four first-inning runs to jump out to an early lead they wouldn’t relinquish. With a 13-1 win, Eastern Hancock claimed at least a share of the conference crown, the third in program history.
“We had many goals, but two of our main goals were to win conference and of course to win sectionals,” Eastern Hancock coach Terry Stephens said. “From there, we’ll keep adding goals after that. I’m glad we got this one out of the way, and now we can move on to that second one. Hopefully we can do that.”
What the Royals don’t know yet is whether they will share the conference title with another team. They’ll have to wait until Friday to find out, when Shenandoah plays Cowan in their final MEC game of the season.
Eastern Hancock handed the Raiders their only conference loss thus far, topping their rivals less than two weeks ago. If the Raiders also beat Cowan, the MEC will have co-champions.
Whether shared or not, the Royals are conference champions a year after finishing one game away from a shared title. That motivated the team heading into this season.
“To come up short last year, that was a heartbreaker, so that was our main goal this year,” senior Eriel Truitt said. “To get it, even tied with Shenandoah, is great. It feels good.”
The Royals got things started quick Tuesday, with three straight singles to open the game. After a pair of outs, the hosts smacked three more singles, driving in four runs in the opening frame.
They added four more runs in the second and five in the third inning as the offense was clicking from the first pitch.
“At first, I was like, which way are we going to come out?” Stephens said. “Are we going to be the team that couldn’t do anything Saturday, got down 11-0? Or are we gonna be the team that came back and scored 15, 16, whatever it was we needed to win? Once I saw we scored four in the first, I was like, OK, OK. We almost batted through the lineup. We’re going to be fine.”
Eastern Hancock finished with 16 hits in the game. Bailey Stephens, Caroline Stapleton and Taylor Koch all were a perfect 3-for-3, with Stapleton and Koch each driving in four runs. Paige Wickard and Eriel Truitt each had two hits, and Wickard and Kaylee Stewart each had two RBIs.
Stapleton, a freshman, tied an Eastern Hancock school record during the game with a triple in the second inning, giving her eight on the season. That ties the mark set in 2008 by Caity Knopp.
Tuesday’s big game was nothing new this season for the freshman. She is hitting .537 and leads the team in hits, doubles, triples and RBIs.
“I play on a travel team, which gets me good against the faster pitches,” Stapleton said. “I go to hitting lessons a lot. I just work on targeting where the ball can go. When I find a hole, I try to get it there and then just run the bases.”
Maddie Turner got the win in the circle, throwing a complete game and allowing five hits and one run while striking out four.
Now that they have a MEC title to their name, the Royals are ready to pursue bigger goals. A few regular-season games remain before Monday’s sectional opener against Heritage Christian, the start of what they hope is a long tournament run.
“There’s really no doubt in my mind that we can’t go all the way,” Truitt said. “I say that because I’ve seen us come back. We came back against Shenandoah. When our bats are working, it’s amazing. Amazing things happen. Yeah, we’ve had some losses, but there’s no doubt in my mind. I don’t even plan to be at my graduation, because that’s the day of semistate.”
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Eastern Hancock 13, Cowan 1
C (5-11, 3-2);001;00;—;1;5;0
EH (14-6-1, 7-1);445;0X;—;13;16;0
WP: Maddie Turner. LP: Karlee Rumfelt.
3B: Caroline Stapleton, Kaylee Stewart (EH). 2B: Taylor Koch 2 (EH). RBI: Stapleton 4, Koch 4, Stewart 2, Paige Wickard 2, Eriel Truitt (EH); Rylee Mace (C).
Notable: Stapleton 3-for-3, 3B, 4 RBI; Stephens 3-for-3, 3 R; Koch 3-for-3, 2 2B, 4 RBI.
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