Coach Brittany Thornburg had some interesting thoughts about her Nansemond-Suffolk Academy softball team facing Isle of Wight Academy on Friday with a state title on the line.
“We kind of knew all season it would come down to them,” she said. “It was just a matter of who would be hungrier.”
The top-seeded Saints ended up enjoying a feast on their way to their fifth consecutive Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association championship, winning 14-2 over the second-seeded Chargers in the Division II bracket.
The game was one of three championship contests played simultaneously at the Dinwiddie Sports Complex in Sutherland.
Zoey Carpenter, Ellie Benes and Sophia Grant all went 3 for 4 as NSA amassed 15 hits. Carpenter slugged a three-run homer and Grant had three RBIs.
Marin McGowan, the Division II Player of the Year, struck out 10 to earn the victory.
“We’ve got three seniors that won it four consecutive years on the varsity,” Thornburg said of Benes, Rylea Nelms and Kayla Kosiorek. “I’m super-proud of the girls.”
NSA beat IWA 9-1 on May 2 in the regular season, and the Saints didn’t give the Chargers (16-7) much hope of a payback upset.
“Marin McGowan and our catcher, Malli Groves, were super leaders this year, carrying us at the field and at the plate,” Thornburg said. “The friendship between the two is very strong, and it definitely shows in that battery.
“The senior leadership was huge. All season long, it was just an all-around team effort, picking each other up, learning from each other, making each other better.”
NSA finished 21-2. Its only losses were to Hickory and Western Branch, two of the area’s best public-school programs.
“From the start of the season, we knew what our goal was, and today we accomplished that,” Thornburg said.
