Pitching a puzzle, but young Trinity softball team has hitting, defense to compete

Trinity swung the bats, and made the plays in the field – several of them quite impressive – as it finally got the chance to complete a long-delayed season opener Thursday afternoon. 

But pitching, projected to be a major question for the Crusaders entering the year, was a problem spot as walks piled up in a couple huge innings, and visiting Robert Toombs pulled away over five to win 17-8. 

When its turns at the plate came around, Trinity responded and rallied, impressively cutting an original nine-run deficit down to only one as the teams traded 17 out of the gate.

There were some highlight grabs, too. 

Shortstop Chloe Rozier, left fielder Sara Beth Gay and second baseman Eden Rowe combined for several in the same timespan that kept momentum on the home side high despite the early struggles. 

But getting RTCA to put the ball in play was half the battle for a Crusader pitching staff that couldn’t consistently find the strike zone. 

What has been a concern in the last couple of seasons may remain a project for Trinity’s newest squad, whose lineup will have to try to offset its inconsistency in the circle with strengths on offense and defense. 

Thursday’s game proved that, to a certain extent, it can be done. 

The Crusaders gave up eight runs, and made their first pitching change before a first out in the top of the first inning. And a ninth for the visitors scored as Chloe Rozier pitched to third for a first out via fielders choice. 

She’d record two more to end the half inning before RTCA could do any further damage, and Trinity grabbed the bats to try and chip away. 

And chip away it did. 

The Crusaders’ resilient lineup proceeded to bat its own way around in the bottom half, scoring two on a wild pitch and a couple more via RBIs by Ella Kendrick and Kimber Couey to make the score 9-4. 

And they’d duplicate the effort after a clean second inning in the field (keyed by a line ’em out, throw ’em out double play) as Rowe and Sara Beth Gay drove in runs following a two-run error to shrink the deficit back to one. 

But location issues returned anew in the third, as Toombs scored seven more. 

A call to arms… 

Pitching development has been difficult for the Crusaders since the graduation of their 2024 ace Allie Baggett. 

Senior Maddie Grace Alligood stepped up, while gutting out an injury, to help them get through last fall. But not enough arms have come through the pipeline since to give Trinity much to hang its hat on in the circle. 

And it appears this year’s pitching duties, early on, will be pieced together by a committee of young hurlers who will have to learn and grow in the heat of varsity action. 

Junior Layla Smith made Tuesday’s start, giving way to freshman Piper Terry and ultimately sophomore Reese Cobb to finish things up. 

Each had their moments, but couldn’t put enough complete at-bats together to challenge the visiting Crusaders, whose early explosion was bolstered by a few hard-hit balls that found holes for hits in addition to the frequency of free passes. 

But when it wasn’t hit where they couldn’t make a play, Trinity defenders showed off the gloves by laying hold of several that came hot off the bat. Many of the same turned around and squared it up at the plate, showing some decent pop pretty much 1-through-9 on the card that will give the Crusaders a solid shot to hang with some teams, if they can get the pitching piece better settled. 

For Thursday, they were simply happy to get a chance to play, after lightning and storms ruled out both their previous attempts at a home opener, Aug. 4 against Gatewood (in a game that was suspended just a few at-bats in) and a complete washout earlier this week against Thomas Jefferson. 

The threat of weather was on the radar, but stayed out of the way as they made their first outing, and likely picked up some points to work on going forward. 

District play, in a new league featuring several perennial playoff-contending rivals out of Brentwood, Pinewood, Brairwood and Edmund Burke, won’t begin till September, giving Trinity some time to get things worked out. 

The Crusaders will return to the field next week in a home contest with David Emanuel, followed by a rematch at Robert Toombs.