The King’s Fork High School softball team ended in a regional semifinal loss to Great Bridge High School on the road last Friday.

The Lady Bulldogs went on the road last Friday with hopes of earning a bid to the Class 4 state tournament again. In order to do that, they were going to have to go through a stout Great Bridge team that had beat them twice in the regular season.

Great Bridge got off to a 2-0 lead after the first inning. They kept that lead for the next two innings before King’s Fork scored its only run in the fourth inning. Baxley Lockhart scored the run and finished the game 2-3. KFHS collected six hits as a team.

Great Bridge wanted to neutralize Madison Froemel, and they did so by throwing different pitches and walking her. Cali Hinnant pitched a complete game and took the loss.

“Unfortunately, it went the way we didn’t want it to go,” Coach Richard Froemel said. “After a shaky first inning, we settled down and played decent defense. We had runners on, but sometimes we couldn’t do the basic things.”

Looking back on the season, Froemel felt good about some of the things they were able to do this season. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs were a game away from reaching the state tournament. This time around, the format and schedules were different due to Virginia High School League changes. They had more Southeastern District games this season, which made it a more difficult path to return to where they wanted to go. They did get some big wins this year, with the biggest coming against Hickory High School.

Lockhart stepped in and showed great improvement this season and corrected a few things from last season. Hanna Williamson has also made strides offensively for the Lady Bulldogs. After a standout freshman season, Hinnant came back and made some improvements. Her best game came against Hickory, where she struck out 10 and allowed three hits. King’s Fork will have a strong core returning for next season but will be without senior standout Madison Froemel.

Great Bridge 4, King’s Fork 1

GBHS 2 0 0 0 2 0 0—4

KFHS 0 0 0 1 0 0 0—1

GBHS: Hits 10—Bowes 2, Donahue 2, Vanassche 2, Helvig, Boyd, Liske, Jarrell; Runs 4—Anderson, Miller, Donahue, Vanassche; RBI 4—Bowes 3, Liske

KFHS: Hits 6—Lockhart 2, Gay, Williamson, Carlesi, Maher; Runs 1—Lockhart; RBI 1—Williamson