Culpeper National falls

The solid all-around play of the Culpeper National 9-10 All-Star team wasn’t enough to overcome Gordonsville’s two huge innings Tuesday night at Canavan Park and the Nationals fell 12-4. The Culpeper squad fell to 0-2 in the District 14 tournament, but has two more opportunities to pick up victories when it plays Thursday at Monticello and Friday against Culpeper American.

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Nationals manager Rob Humphreys, who is also the managing editor of the Star-Exponent, said. “Each game we show a lot of improvement and it’s just a matter of time until we turn it around.”

The game was tied at 1 heading into the top of the third inning, but that was when Gordonsville broke the contest open with six runs. Seth Dalton delivered a two-out double to center field to starting pitcher Brandon Terrill also had an RBI in the inning. Terrill pitched four innings to pick up the win, striking out six and allowing three runs.

Culpeper National got big games offensively from Luther Gibbs and Kevin Devine. Gibbs recorded a pair of hits, including a two-RBI triple in the bottom of the third.

Devine added a pair of singles and an RBI and a run scored.

“Sometimes we make mistakes and we just can’t afford them,” Gibbs said. “We’re doing good though. We’re all having a good time and we’re all friends.”

The two runs in the third helped Culpeper keep it close, but Gordonsville was able to extend its lead in the fifth inning with five more runs
Culpeper National starting pitcher Jheison Martinez had a double and scored a run and also worked 3 1/3 innings on the mound.

He left the game with three strikeouts and handed the ball to Nate Smith, who struck out one in two innings.

Jacquez Johnson added an RBI double for the Nationals and Mason Crawford had a triple.

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext. 127 or

Little League roundup
Culpeper 9-10 softball cruises to win
The Culpeper A&N 9-10 Softball All-Stars picked up an impressive victory Sunday against Gordonsville, winning 30-19. After three innings Gordonsville was up 8-1, but Culpeper exploded in the final three innings scoring 29 runs. Claire Mocarski pitched the entire six innings with nine strikeouts, leading scorer, Tiara Jackson scored six runs, Shania Yates scored six runs, Courtney Dalimonte scored 4 runs. Every member of the team had at least one RBI.

Culpeper American beats East Orange
The Culpeper American 11-12 softball team beat East Orange for the second time Tuesday night, this time by a score of 7-6. Kara Cuccherini picked up the win, pitching six innings. She allowed nine hits and struck out 12 without allowing a walk. She also had three hits and scored the winning run on a triple by Miaisha Jackson. Chelsea Colvin and Nicole Murphy each had two hits for Culpeper American and Brianne Pollard added a triple. Culpeper American will take on Culpeper National tonight.