TUNSTALL HEADS TO TITLE GAME

UPDATE
2:37 p.m.:  Tunstall defeats Patrick County 3-2 in eight innings to advance to Group AA state championship game.

2:26 p.m.: Tunstall and Patrick are still tied 2-2 and teams head into extra innings.

2:17 p.m.: Tunstall and Patrick County are still tied after six innings.

2:06 p.m.: Tunstall and Patrick County remain tied 2-2 after the fifth inning.

2:00 p.m.: Patrick County, Tunstall tied 2-2 at end of fourth inning

1:45 p.m.: Patrick County leads 2-1 at the end of two innings.

1:36 p.m.: Tunstall trails 2-0 to Patrick County in Group AA state semifinal game.

ORIGINAL STORY
DRY FORK — The Big Cheese rides again.

Tunstall vs. Patrick County
WHERE: Veteran’s Park, Radford

WHEN: 1 p.m. today

WHAT: Group AA state semifinal

RECORDS: Tunstall (22-0); Patrick County (20-4)

LAST: Region IV champion Tunstall defeated Region III runner up Brookville 2-1 in a Group AA quarterfinal Tuesday in Dry Fork; Region IV runner up Patrick County defeated Region III champion Turner Ashby 2-0 in a Group AA quarterfinal Tuesday in Bridgewater.

NOTES: Tunstall has defeated Piedmont District rival Patrick County by a single run in each of the teams’ four meetings this season, most recently taking a 2-1 decision in the Region IV championship game Saturday in Tazewell. The Trojans also swept the regular season series and topped the Cougars in the Piedmont District tournament championship game to account for all of Patrick County’s four losses this season. … Tunstall boasts an experienced lineup featuring seven seniors, including Piedmont District Pitcher of the Year Brittany Arnn, a dominating lefty who will play at Division I Campbell University next year. … Tunstall hasn’t lost since suffering a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Broad Run, a team then ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today, in the Group AA state championship game last year. A fifth victory against Patrick County could potentially set up a showdown against Broad Run, the two-time defending state champs, for the third consecutive season. Broad Run (19-2) faces Orange County (21-4) at 10 a.m. today in the other semifinal.

 

Tunstall declined the opportunity to take a charter bus to its Group AA state semifinal softball game against Patrick County today in Radford, and instead boarded the school bus affectionately known as the “Big Cheese” on Thursday afternoon.

“We’ve never ridden a charter bus at this school and we’re not going to start this year,” said longtime Tunstall softball coach Roger Cook, who is retiring after this season. “I’m a superstitious person, and a charter bus just ain’t going to happen. It ain’t going to happen.”

The practice of riding a school bus started years ago, when the school’s principal said that Cook’s softball team could take a charter bus to a playoff game, but had to travel back and forth the day of the game. Cook isn’t a big fan of spending four or five hours on a bus, getting off the bus and having an hour to get ready to play, so his team instead rode a school bus and put the school’s funds toward motel rooms.

“He told us if we wanted to go up a day earlier then we were going to have to ride a school bus,” Cook said, “and we’ve been riding a school bus ever since and we’re not going to change it now.”

Everything about this weekend will be familiar for the undefeated Trojans (22-0), who take on Piedmont District rival Patrick County (20-4) today for the fifth time this season. Tunstall has defeated Patrick County by a single run in each of the teams’ four meetings this year, most recently taking a 2-1 decision in the Region IV championship game Saturday in Tazewell. The Trojans also swept the regular season series and topped the Cougars in the Piedmont District tournament championship game to account for all of Patrick County’s four losses.

“We’ve had four one-run ballgames,” Patrick County coach Gerald Culler said after Tunstall’s Region IV title game victory. “We just haven’t been fortunate enough to get the big hit to take the lead where we’d have a chance to win. We’ve had opportunities, but we haven’t capitalized on them.”

“Well, we know them. We don’t have to get a scouting report,” Tunstall pitcher Brittany Arnn said about Patrick County after dispatching Brookville in a Group AA quarterfinal Tuesday. “We’ll practice for them the next two days like we’ve been preparing for them all year.”

If the Trojans can once again get past Patrick County, there is a good chance of a state championship game rematch with Broad Run. Tunstall hasn’t lost since suffering a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Broad Run, a team then ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today, in the Group AA state championship game last year.

The two-time defending state champs ended Tunstall’s season each of the last two years — the Spartans edged the Trojans 1-0 in nine innings in the state semifinals in 2007. Broad Run (19-2) faces Orange County (21-4) at 10 a.m. today in the other semifinal.

But for now, all of Tunstall’s focus is on today’s meeting with Patrick County.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m glad that we have the four wins and not the four losses, because somewhere in the back of your mind you might begin to doubt yourself as to whether you can beat a team,” Cook said. “But we’ll be prepared for them. If it winds up another one-run ballgame, so be it…

“We’re looking forward to it,” Cook said. “We’ll work hard between now and Thursday and we’ll get on the Big Cheese and go to Radford.”

Contact Wolf at or (434) 791-7996.