By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

BOONVILLE — West Davidson softball coach Charles Elmore was bound and determined not to let Starmount senior Jana Matthews beat his team in Tuesday’s 2A state playoff opener.

While the newly crowned Mountain Valley 2A Conference MVP didn’t, the batter behind her in the order did.

Sophomore Ashlee Handy stroked a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning, and that was all the Rams needed for a 2-0 victory.

It was the second game in a row where Handy delivered when given the chance to play hero. She batted home the winning run in the eighth inning last Thursday to push the Rams past Forbush 3-2 in the MVAC tournament championship.

“She came through again,” Rams coach Heather Courts said. “I’m glad we took care of business and didn’t look forward or felt that we already had it done. We came out and did our jobs tonight.”

Starmount (23-2) advances to the second round of the 2A playoffs for the second year in a row. And for the second year in a row, the Rams will prepare to meet Central Davidson in round two.

The game has been set tentatively for Friday at 7 p.m. at Starmount.

Central Davidson has won the last two state titles, and the pitcher who led them to both, senior Chelsea Leonard, has just recently returned to game action after sitting out most of the season following knee surgery.

Leonard pitched her first full game Tuesday, striking out 20 in a 1-0 win over South Iredell. Central Davidson beat Starmount 10-0 in last year’s playoffs, with Leonard tossing a five-inning no-hitter. She allowed just two base-runners, one from a walk and one from a hit batter.

“She throws a lot of rise balls and she throws it hard,” Courts said. “Hopefully in the next few days of practice we can find some ways to figure out how to get us on base and to get a run across.”

Starmount had a tougher than expected time doing that against West Davidson (10-10), the No. 5 seed from Central Davidson’s conference, the Central Carolina 2A.

Dragons pitcher Jessica Gerken held the Rams to five hits, getting solid defensive help from the right side of the infield (third baseman Kristin Elmore and shortstop Amber Brame).

Chelsea Varner and Matthews both singled in the first inning, and both were bunted into scoring position by Handy. But Matthews was called for interference while running the bases for the third out.

Brittany White beat out an infield single in the second frame and eventually stole third. But Gerken fanned Maygan Baldwin to end that threat.

An error allowed leadoff hitter Carla Cave to get aboard to start the Starmount side of the third inning. Cave also reached third base before being stranded. Matthews and Handy both hit hard balls that were gobbled up by the West Davidson defense.

Starmount, which also got one base-runner aboard via a walk in the fourth inning, finally broke through in the fifth.

With two outs, West Davidson committed an error that allowed Varner to reach base safely. That brought Matthews to the plate.

The senior first baseman, who has signed to play for Charleston Southern, faced a similar situation last week against Forbush in the MVAC title game. The Rams trailed Forbush 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning, and Matthews responded by parking a 2-0 pitch over the centerfield fence to tie the game.

Matthews also has two grand slams to her credit this season and ranks among the Rams’ all-time leading home run hitters for fastpitch.

With that knowledge in mind, Elmore didn’t hesitate to walk her, putting two runners on. A passed ball on the Dragons allowed both Varner and Matthews to move up a base, setting the stage for Handy.

“We were not going to let (Matthews) beat us, and of course the girl behind her was the one who beat us,” Elmore said. “That’s the chance we took with two outs and we’d do the same thing again. I was not going to pitch to her. Right, wrong or indifferent, that was the decision that was made.”

Just before stroking what would be the game-winning hit, Handy drilled a foul-ball line drive that ended up catching coach Courts in the back.

“She hit the heck out of that ball,” Courts quipped. “I haven’t been hit in a long time. I was glad she straightened it out (to drive in two runs).”

West Davidson only managed two hits against Starmount freshman pitcher Courtney Groce. Both came off the bat of right fielder Staci Rich, who hits eighth in the line-up.

The Dragons were walked twice but couldn’t push a runner past second base. In the third inning, Rich beat out an infield single only to be thrown out later trying to steal second base.

Rich’s second hit came with two outs in the top of the fifth. The next West Davidson batter, Gerken, struck out.

“We have played well against some very quality teams in our last three or four games,” Elmore said. “But we have had a hard time putting anything on the board. It’s frustrating that we’re good enough defensively but we’re just not doing enough at the plate.”

Groce fanned nine West batters. The all-conference pitcher improved her season record to 17-1, with the one loss coming to Forbush in an 10-inning game on April 17.

Starmount has not lost as a team since that night in East Bend and will take an 11-game win streak into Friday’s playoff game against Central Davidson. Seven of those victories have been shutouts.

West Davidson lost 1-0 and 2-1 to Central Davidson during the season. But Leonard did not pitch in either of those contests. The Dragons also lost 1-0 to Central Carolina champion Ledford in last week’s conference tournament.

“Not to pat ourselves on the back but I think our conference is pretty strong,” Elmore said. “I don’t think we are the typical No. 5 seed that people will see.”

Starmount 2, West Davidson 0

2A State Playoffs • First Round • Tuesday • at Boonville

West Davidson 000 000 0 — 0 2 2

Starmount 000 020 x — 2 5 0

WP: Courtney Groce (17-1). LP: Jessica Gerken

Leading hitters: S — Ashlee Handy 1-for-2, 2 RBIs; Chelsea Varner: 1-for-1, 1 run; Jana Matthews 1-for-2, 1 run. WD — Staci Rich 2-for-2

Records: Starmount 23-2, West Davidson 10-10