Varsity Softball Ends Season with a Heartbreaking Loss to Oakton

The Chantilly Varsity Softball team's season ended in a disappointing, yet dramatic, fashion Wednesday with a 2-1 loss to Oakton in the first round of the Concorde District tournament in Oakton.  Both teams battled hard and it took 9 innings for a winner to be decided.  The Lady Chargers struck first in the top of the second inning when Alex Sallberg launched a one-out double to left-center and later scored on a single by Danny Almodiel down the first base line to give Chantilly a 1-0 lead.  Oakton responded in the bottom of the third inning with a single and a ground-rule double to even the score at one apiece. 

The Lady Chargers were able to hold Oakton to only one hit the rest of the way behind the strong pitching performance of Emily Gembarowicz (11 strikeouts, 6 hits allowed).  Even in the ninth inning, Emily's fastball had as much pop as it did in the first inning.  Unfortunately, several Oakton batters fought hard to extend the pitch counts in the bottom of the ninth inning and one drew a walk to bring home the winning run from third base with two outs to extend Oakton's post-season play.  Chantilly finished the game with 1 run on 8 hits compared to 2 runs on 6 hits for the Lady Cougars.

Good luck next year Ladies.