Friendly rivalry

WARRENTON - Reba Tutt left Culpeper County High School after her sophomore season to attend Highland School. She went on to better herself as a player for the Lady Hawks.
On Saturday, Tutt got a chance to play against her former school - a team on which she still has friends.
Tutt, who will play her college softball next year at the University of Pittsburgh, went 5-for-5 with two RBIs and two doubles against her former mates. Culpeper (6-3) took Highland (6-1) took the limits, but in the end, the Lady Hawks went home with a 7-4 win in eight innings at the Fauquier Bash tournament.
"It was funny because, in the beginning, Michelle Beall said to me 'It's just another softball game' and the first game, Nichole Beall said she was going to cheer for me, so it was neat," Tutt said.
Tutt had been mired in a mini-slump, so it was poetic justice that she snapped out of it against Culpeper.
"Last weekend, Reba didn't have that great of a weekend," teammate Ella Miller said. "This weekend, she really stepped it up. She was a real leader."
Highland also has Culpeper natives Maire Shaughnessy and Hannah Safren.
"It was really nice," said Shaughnessy on playing against her former teammates. "It didn't really hit me until we were about to play. I have a lot of close friends on that team, it was weird because I don't always like pitching against friends and people that I know."
"We had Highland, it was a mental game, they didn't beat us because they were better than us," CCHS coach Janice Gillespie said. "They have got some really good players, three of them would be at Culpeper, if Highland didn't recruit."
When the teams went into the extra inning, just to move the game along, a courtesy runner was put in on second base automatically. In the top of the eighth inning, and the score tied at 4, Denae Davis was Highland's courtesy runner.
Erin Whitney advanced Davis to third base on an infield single. Allison Conners drove Davis home with a run-scoring groundout. Tutt then knocked in Whitney with an RBI single.
The next hitter was Hannah Safren, who reached base on an error by CCHS's shortstop Nichole Beall. Tutt made it over to third and scored on a single by Miller.
"That last inning I just think we were ready to go and pumped up and nothing was going to stop us," Shaughnessy said.
Highland jumped on Culpeper with two runs on four hits in the first inning, but Devilettes pitcher Bethany Baker buckled down and held the Lady Hawks off the scoreboard over the next four innings.
Tutt led the game off with a single, while Safren and Miller tallied back-to-back base hits for Highland to load the bases. Maire Shaughnessy, who went 2-for-4, came through with a two-run single, before Baker retired the next three Highland batters.
Miller's hit avenged a costly error in the second inning that allowed two Culpeper runs to score.
"Earlier in the game I had an error that really set us back, so I was really looking to get back on the base paths and I was just a little aggressive," Miller said.
Baker pitched six and a third innings, allowing four earned runs, while striking out five batters.
The Devilettes did not bury their head and give up, instead they stormed back to take a 4-2 lead after five innings.
CCHS evened the score at 2 in the second when Sarah Campbell and Brittany Owens came around to score on Highland errors.
"We just thought we had it and were just too overconfident," said CCHS catcher Sam May.
The Devilettes added a run in the fourth inning when Baker drove in Michelle Beall with a single. Campbell ripped an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, giving CCHS the 4-2 edge.
"Culpeper is an awesome team, they have got a great group of kids," O'Meara said. "We knew they were going to put the bat on the ball, they surprised us a little bit with their push bunting, but we stayed composed."
Tutt ripped an RBI double in the sixth inning and Shaughnessy tied the score at 4 in the seventh on a run-scoring sacrifice fly.
"In the sixth inning in the dug out I got on them a little hard about never giving up," said Highland coach Donald O'Meara. "I felt like we were letting up a little bit when we were down 4-2, and I told the girls 'It is never over until it's over and it is looking like some of you are looking like you quit, so prove me wrong.'"
Shaughnessy pitched a complete game and allowed just five base hits for her fifth win of the season.
"Maire is solid, she has been doing this all year," O'Meara said. "She is our No. 1 pitcher, she is what we are going to ride on in the big games."
Shaughnessy struck out Campbell to end the game.
"She (Shaughnessy) has been amazing, she kept her composure out there and through our errors, she kept her head up and she did what she needed to do," Tutt said. "That last strikeout is what we needed."

Liberty tops Culpeper
The Devilettes' day got worse when they lost to Liberty 7-5 in their second game at the Fauquier Bash.
CCHS had the game-tying runs in scoring position in the top of the seventh inning with Ashleigh Johnson coming up to the plate. Johnson got the count even at 2-2, before striking out to end the game.
The Devilettes showed some fatigue in the second game and it showed early. The first Liberty batter, Caitlyn Romano, smacked a home run over the left field fence.
CCHS, however, responded with two runs in the top of the second when Baker and May had back-to-back RBI singles. Nichole Beall, who had two hits and a walk, began the inning with a double.
Liberty came back with four runs in the fourth and the Devilettes tallied two more runs in the fourth inning.
The Devilettes will host Potomac at 4:30 p.m. Apr. 10.

Highland edges    Rappahannock
The Highland softball team won early in the day over Rappahannock County High School — the home county of Miller.
"Both wins today were really big, because everyone knows we have players from all those counties," Miller said.
The Lady Hawks had just two hits, but the pitching of Tutt helped Highland to a 2-0 victory.
Tutt pitched five innings, allowed three hits and struck out five Lady Panthers. Shaughnessy came in relief to earn the save.
Tutt walked twice in the game and scored both runs, while Shaughnessy and D'Urso each ripped a double.

Adam Thompson can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 127 or .