The Nansemond River softball team scored a rare and emotional 2-1 win over visiting rival Grassfield High School on Wednesday, but it had to avoid the temptation to let that triumph blur their focus on Thursday against visiting Indian River High School.

Entering the sixth inning, the Lady Warriors trailed 1-0, but then a sense of urgency kicked in. Junior Maddy-Grace Lavender kick-started things offensively with a single, after which nearly every member of the team scored, forcing the game to end by the mercy rule, 11-1.

Lavender explained what the game was like for the Lady Warriors who trailed most of the game.

“We had just been kind of like, ‘Oh, we’ll get that run back, we’ll get that run back,’ but I think we just needed something to start us off, and I guess that was my hit to right field, but it was really a team effort,” she said. “And if it wasn’t for everybody else hitting and getting me in, we wouldn’t have scored.”

Head coach Gabe Rogers saw a coaching decision by Indian River as a key factor in the game.

“Obviously, in the sixth inning, we decided to do something,” he said. “I don’t think it was more what we did, it was more of what the other coach did. The other coach shouldn’t have changed that pitcher out. We were struggling with her.”

“I think if she’d have left the other one in, I think we’re looking at maybe a 2-1 game, but it worked out to our benefit,” he said.

Senior Sydney Glover, whose heroics contributed to the Grassfield win, commented on what she was feeling entering the sixth inning.

“Definitely, nerves, but I had faith in our team, so I kind of knew that we would get a hit and once we got one hit, it would just progress from there,” she said. “We’re pretty strong once it gets contagious, and everyone starts hitting all at once, so I had faith that we would score in the sixth.”

Rogers credited Lavender with changing the momentum of the game as “she spark-plugged that whole inning.”

“That’s why you have the girls that are on this team, because I have the belief that they’re all going to contribute one way or the other,” he said.

He also pointed to the strong pitching of freshman Lauren Maddrey as an important factor for the second game in a row.

The Lady Warriors (2-0, 2-0) visit Hickory High School on Monday.