Softball

Senior (Mt. Solon, VA/Fort Defiance) leaves with her first-ever All-ODAC First Team honor, as she was EMU’s triple crown winner, leading the team in batting, homeruns and RBIs.  Overall, Allman led the Lady Royals in nine offensive categories, hitting .422, on 49 hits, with eight homeruns, 11 doubles and 17 walks.  She also tied a program record with 46 RBIs in a season.  The infielder closes her career with five EMU records: homeruns in season (9), RBIs in a season (46 – tied with Karla Alderfer), career homeruns (31), career RBIs (151) and career walks (52).  Allman earned a spot on the All-ODAC First Team in the utility spot, as she played games at first base, second base and designated player this year.  This is her third time on an All-ODAC team.

High school teammates (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) and (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) earned nods to the All-ODAC Second Team.  Hensley, EMU’s shortstop, led the women and was sixth in the ODAC with 40 runs this year.  She came two short of EMU’s record of 42.  Hensley was second on the team with 45 hits and added some pop as well, with a career high six homeruns to go with ten doubles and two triples.  She was also on the Second Team as a freshman and Third Team last year.  Smith took a spot on the Second Team as an outfielder after on the First Team in 2011.  She played her best in the ODAC part of the season and finished with a .348 batting average, with eight doubles and four homeruns.  Smith was second on the team with 28 RBIs.  She also had a 6-3 record with one save and a 3.91 ERA as a pitcher.

The Lady Royals also had three new players land on the All-ODAC Third Team.  Sophomore (Crimora, VA/Fort Defiance), a transfer from Lynchburg College, took over as EMU’s starting center fielder and lead-off hitter.  She was third on the team with 44 hits and batted .336 with a team-best eight stolen bases.  Freshmen (Bridgewater, VA/Turner Ashby) and (Elkton, VA/East Rockingham) rounded out EMU’s honorees.  Miller, as designated player, was second on the team with a .404 batting average, adding four homeruns and 17 RBIs.  She was also second in on-base percentage and third in slugging percentage.  Cash earned her spot as the third baseman, and had a team high seven sacrifices.  She tied for second on the team in stolen bases, going a perfect five-for-five.  Cash was also fourth with 25 runs scored.

Eastern Mennonite’s young team finished the 2013 season 21-19 overall and 9-11 in the ODAC.  They had a number of big wins during the year, including three over nationally ranked teams.  The Lady Royals swept Lynchburg to end the regular season, and also handed No. 1 Salisbury one of their two losses.

Baseball

The Royals had two players honored to 2013 All-ODAC teams, with both catcher (Miami, FL/Doral Academy) and first baseman (Poquoson, VA/Poquoson) named to the Third Team.  Both players are juniors at ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø.

Estrada, also an ODAC All-Academic Team member, led the Royals in a number of offensive categories, as well as catching for a pitching staff which shaved nearly two full runs off its team ERA this spring and led the ODAC in strikeouts per game (7.08).  Estrada had team highs with his 17 doubles (fourth-best season in EMU history), two homeruns, 34 RBIs and .500 slugging percentage.  He was also second with 50 hits and a .333 batting average.  Estrada was third in the ODAC in doubles, and fifth in both RBIs and sacrifice flies.

Posey responded very well to a big move this year.  After concentrating on pitching only his first two seasons, the junior added playing first and batting to his repertoire.  He hit from the leadoff spot all season and led EMU with a .367 batting average, 54 hits and 35 runs scored.  His .460 on-base percentage easily led EMU and was fifth in the ODAC.  Posey displayed a judicial eye at the plate, earning 19 walks compared to just eight strikeouts.  He also had a 4-3 record from the hill, with a 2.81 ERA in 10 starts.

Despite a cold spell to end the season, Eastern Mennonite finished with their most wins since 2002, coming in at 15-24.

EMU 10, Mary Baldwin 1 – 5 innings
The women scored once in the first, but broke through in the second.  (Mt. Solon, VA/Fort Defiance) brought in three with a bases loaded double to push the lead to 6-0.

The Fighting Squirrels got their run in the top of the fourth, but Eastern Mennonite put up four more in the bottom of the frame.  Allman ripped another double which brought in two runs, and (Grottoes, VA/Fort Defiance) followed with an RBI double of her own.

Reigning ODAC Pitcher of the Week (Madison, VA/Madison County) struck out six batters in her five innings of work as she improved to 5-1 on the season.

Allman led the offense with her two doubles and five RBIs.  (Elkton, VA/East Rockingham) also had a pair of hits, scoring twice and driving in another run.  (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) and (Crimora, VA/Fort Defiance) each scored twice as well.

EMU 9, Mary Baldwin 1 – 6 innings
Game two was scoreless until the bottom of the third.  Cash led off with a single and Sigrist also singled with one out.  Allman followed with a two-run double.  A third run scored on a passed ball as EMU jumped ahead 3-0.

Mary Baldwin scored an unearned run on a two-out double in the fourth, but the Lady Royals kept coming in the fifth.  The first four batters had hits, including an RBI single from Lucas and a two-run double from (Bridgewater, VA/Turner Ashby).  (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) added a two-out double to the push the edge to 7-1.

MBC went down in order in the top of the sixth, and the women triggered the eight-run mercy rule in the sixth, as Lucas and Miller had back-to-back RBI hits to plate two.

(Stuarts Draft, VA/Stuarts Draft) got her first career start and earned the complete game win.  The freshman gave up just two hits and one unearned run.

Miller finished 2-3 with a walk and drove in three runs.  Allman was also 2-3 with a walk, and added two RBIs and two runs.  Lucas had a pair of singles with two RBIs while Sigrist also had two hits and scored twice.

Eastern Mennonite stays at home for two more doubleheaders this weekend, hosting Mary Washington on Saturday and then No. 23 Roanoke on Sunday.