By Duncan Nixon
Fluvanna High School athletes sign college commitments
It is always a happy day at Fluvanna High—or any high school—when student-athletes sign commitment letters to continue competing at the college level.
On April 15, twelve Fluvanna County athletes signed commitment letters. Most will compete at small colleges and universities in Virginia.
Two athletes heading farther afield are Kaiya Wrigley and Reese Yowell.
Wrigley is an interesting case. She has signed to play rugby at West Point. It is always impressive when a student from Fluvanna County attends a service academy. These institutions generally admit only 400–500 students each year from across the country, making acceptance highly competitive.
Rugby is not a sport offered at Fluvanna High. There is no varsity or club team. Wrigley’s parents said the family recently moved to Fluvanna from California, where she played on coed rugby teams. After relocating, they found a coed club team in Culpeper, allowing her to continue playing.
Yowell has signed to play women’s soccer at Vassar College. Historically one of the “Seven Sisters,” a group of elite women’s colleges associated with the Ivy League, Vassar is now coeducational. While the term may feel dated, the school remains highly regarded.
Two other signees will attend schools outside Virginia, though not far away. James Johnson has signed to swim at Stevenson University in Maryland, and Carson Raines will play baseball at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.
Two Fluco athletes have signed to continue their careers at nearby Bridgewater College. Starting quarterback Will Lambert and softball catcher Megan Pounsberry will attend Bridgewater, just south of James Madison University.
Six athletes have signed with schools in Virginia. Ellie Garrett will play volleyball at Shenandoah University. Cadie Ellington will play soccer at Hollins University. Jonathan Gretz will wrestle at the University of Lynchburg. Brady Crisp will play soccer at Eastern Mennonite University, and Kyle Butler will play soccer at the University of Mary Washington. Christopher Johnson will play football at Christopher Newport University.
Fluco Softball Cruises to 19–1 Mercy-Rule Win
The Fluco softball team hosted its Jefferson District opponent, Charlottesville High, on April 16. Fluvanna entered the game at 7-2, while the Black Knights came in at 3-4.
The Flucos jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings.
Then came the deluge.
After retiring Charlottesville in order at the top of the inning, Fluvanna erupted for 11 runs in the bottom half, sending 15 batters to the plate. The Flucos added five more runs in the fourth to build a 19-0 lead.
Charlottesville scored a single run in the top of the fifth to avoid the shutout, but the game was called after four and a half innings under the mercy rule.
Junior Lila Schwartz pitched the first three innings for Fluvanna and was perfect: nine up, nine down. Sophomore Allison Gomez worked the fourth and fifth innings, She gave up a solid single in the fifth to break up a no-hitter, and a throwing error brought a run.
There were many positive statistics for the Flucos.
Senior catcher Megan Pounsberry led the way with five RBI, including two two-run singles and a run-scoring groundout. Senior outfielder Ryleigh Birckhead reached base in all four at-bats and scored three times, as did senior third baseman Breeanna Miller. Sophomore center fielder Aleah Anderson went 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while freshman designated hitter Peyton Baber added a double and a single, scoring twice.
After the game, Coach Aime McCall noted that the team traveled to Myrtle Beach over spring break to compete in a tournament featuring top East Coast teams. The Flucos went 2-2 in the event, and their only losses this season have come against elite out-of-state competition. Fluvanna has reached double-digit scoring multiple times this year.
The Flucos played at Western Albemarle on April 21 and at Louisa County on April 23. They will host Albemarle on April 28 and Goochland on April 30.
Fluco Baseball Tops Orange County, 8–5
For the first three innings, it looked like a pitcher’s duel.
The Flucos did not manage a hit through the first three innings. They put one runner on in each frame—two walks and a hit batter—but eight of their nine outs came via strikeout.
Fluvanna senior pitcher Tramayne Minor held his own, pitching out of trouble in the second and working clean innings in the first and third.
The floodgates opened in the middle innings.
In the top of the fourth, Orange County Hornets scored once on a walk and a double. The Flucos responded with three runs in the bottom half.
Junior right fielder Alexander Childers, batting cleanup, worked a walk, and senior catcher Carson Raines followed with another.
One reason Fluco baseball has been successful over the years is the lack of automatic outs at the bottom of the lineup.
Batting eighth, sophomore first baseman Jake McCall singled to drive in Childers and Raines, who had advanced on a wild pitch. Junior designated hitter Noah Washington then singled home McCall, who had stolen second base.
Orange threatened in the fifth, but the Flucos shut them down.
In the bottom of the inning, sophomore center fielder Jacob Loving led off with a single, advanced to second on an outfield bobble, and scored on a throwing error. After a pitching change, senior shortstop Sam Loving homered on the first pitch he saw, blasting it over the left-center field fence to give Fluvanna a 5–1 lead. The Flucos added another run when senior third baseman Kyle Harris reached on an error, and Minor drove him in with a two-out triple.
In the top of the sixth, the Hornets rallied for four runs to cut the lead to one.
Fluvanna answered in the bottom half. Washington led off with a double, and the Loving brothers each singled. A sacrifice fly by Harris added two insurance runs, making the score 8–5.
Sam Loving took over on the mound in the seventh. He struck out the first two batters but then hit two and walked another to load the bases. Junior Brady Shields, now at shortstop after Loving moved to the mound, ended the game with a diving catch on a blooper to shallow left. Had the ball dropped, Orange likely would have pulled within a run with a runner on third.
Under first-year coach Jacob Critzer, the Flucos are 8-3 overall and 4-0 in Jefferson District play. They defeated Charlottesville 3-2 on April 26 and previously played at Western Albemarle and Louisa County on April 21 and 23. Fluvanna will host Albemarle on April 28.
