Not happy with his team’s results during pool play, team manager Will Le imposed “stricter” measures to help the Arlington Sage improve during the next day’s championship round of a state softball tournament.
His gambit worked. The 14-under girls team won the title by finishing 3-0 in the championship round of a statewide travel tournament, held at Brambleton Community Park in Ashburn.
The Sage defeated Wildkardz Elite, 9-5, in the championship game after being the seventh seed following going 0-2 in pool play.
Le’s tactic was enforcing and emphasizing much better punctuality for the championship games. He asked players to arrive much earlier for each contest and be ready to play in all aspects minutes before action began.
“We wanted their cleats on and tied, uniforms buttoned and having everything ready to go,” Le told ARLnow. “I think it made a difference. We didn’t do that well enough for the pool-play games.”
That victory came after downing 540 Batties, 6-1, in the semifinals and the Great Falls Sharks, 8-4, in the first round.
“We played much better defense in those three games. The pitching was solid and the hitting was productive,” Le said. “We were kind of expecting to see better competition in this tournament, and we got that.”
By winning the tournament, the Sage improved its overall fall-season record to 8-2.
The Sage had 11 hits in the championship game, spread among eight players. Lizzie Le, Emily Carlson and Natalie Wellner had two hits each. Having one each were Agnes Cooling, Maggie Franker (double), Sally Berkon, Alexis Locke (double) and Gigi Ward. The team stole seven bases.
Le pitched a complete-game two-hitter with six strikeouts as the Sage rallied from a 3-2 deficit to take the lead for good by scoring four runs in the top of the third inning.
Le won two games and pitched 11 innings during the championship round, striking out 13. She defeated Great Falls in the opener. Cooling earned the other win in five innings of work.
Of the Sage’s 22 hits in the three games during the championship round, Ward, Cooling, Wellner, Carlson and Le each had three. Ward had four RBI and Locke three, and Ward stole four of the team’s 12 bases in the three contests.
Others with hits in the championship round were Sarah Shepardson, Esther Chimka and Amelia Grigorescu. Eva Murray, Natalie Shaw and Kaity Wendell also contributed.
Over the five games, Carlson had six hits, drove in five runs, stole five bases and scored six runs. She homered, doubled and drove in three runs in the 13-7 pool-play loss to Great Falls. She had a hit and RBI in the other loss.
Jim Murray was the field coach under Le, with Matt Carlson and Seth Locke serving as assistants.
Earlier this year, in June, the Sage won the NOVA NIT tournament.
During the spring’s high-school season, five Sage players were members of Arlington junior-varsity teams as eighth-graders. Carlson played for the Yorktown Patriots. Le, Wendell, Shaw and Wellner played for the Washington-Liberty Generals.
