Softball: Briar Woods Blasts Way to State finals

(June 10, 2011) - After a 40-minute delay as umpires were mixed up on the first pitch time, the AA state semifinals got underway this morning at Radford University and Broadway High School promptly took a 1-0 nothing lead on Briar Woods. The rest of the morning, however, was all Falcons as junior Macy Jones struck out 14 and collected three hits, including a 2-run home run, and senior Kristina Karagiorgis hit a 2-run home run that put Briar Woods ahead for good in an 8-1 win.

Briar Woods (24-4) will face the winner of today's Woodgrove vs. Northside 4 p.m. semfinal in Saturday's 1 p.m. title game at Radford.


The Falcons had seven players collect hits and six players pick up RBIs in the win. Jones only gave up two hits over the final five innings and four total. At one point she retired 12 straight.

Briar Woods' comeback started in the bottom of the third as No. 9 hitter Alex Fierszt patiently worked a walk. She moved into scoring position on a double to left by Casey Forbes. Jillian Olson followed with a sacrfice fly to left to tie the game but Forbes was thrown out trying to take third.

Jones singled and Karagiorgis followed with a blast to right-center that hopped up onto the train tracks embankment behind the stadium.

That 3-1 lead was stretched to 5-1 on a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Fierszt drove in a run with a single and Forbes had a sac fly. In the fifth inning, the Falcons added another run on a double by Jones and then an RBI double by Lynn Brantley.

Jones put the exclamation point on the win when she took aim at the TV truck parked behind the right-center fence. Her home run hit it on one hop .