MIDDLEBURG - After two innings of action in the Class 5A region quarterfinals, the host Middleburg Lady Broncos seemed to be in a duel with the visiting Vanguard Knights as neither team could get any action out of their bats on offense. Once the Broncos shuffled through the batting lineup one time to make the adjustments in the box, it was game on.

“Offense has been our struggle this year,” said Broncos Head Coach Ashley Houston. “But our kids have been working hard, making the adjustments. We’ve talked about our offensive mindset which is something we really improved on. We’ve also just been practicing on it and I think it is finally all paying off.”

The offensive attack blew up in the bottom of the third inning as the Broncos piled on four runs, continued to blank the Knights with solid defense led by Mallory Forrester in the circle, and then threw the knockout punch in the bottom of the fifth inning as the team amassed six runs to notch a rare post season 10-run rule early shut down of the State Championship Quarterfinal game, 10-0 in five innings.

All that work in the batters box was impressive, and equally impressive was Mallory Forrester on the hill for Middleburg. Like knocking down bowling pins, Forrester had batters whiffing at her dazzling pitches as the record setting senior finally notched her first no-hitter game of 2022. Forrester faced 16 batters, threw 48 strikes on 58 pitches, walked zero, and struck out eight batters on the no-hitter.

“Mallory has had a phenomenal year,” said Houston. “She has thrown a lot of one hit shut outs, but for her to get the no-hitter tonight was awesome. So proud of her and it just makes us all that much more ready for that next assignment. Just so proud of this team tonight.”

The Ladies had a little bit of a time with Vanguard pitcher Hannah Davis. Each player seemed to need to face her at least once to make their own adjustment to her style. Once they did, it was all Broncos.

“We had a much better approach than what we did lately. We attacked really good pitches and got the job done. We had some great two-out hits that were huge and extended the ball game. That first time through the lineup, we struggled because she got the ball under our hands. Once we made that adjustment in the box, we started looking for a different pitch and they were able to get it done.”

All but four Broncos crossed the plate at least one trip and three players scored two runs in the 10 point victory. Kaelyn Hagan,

Belle Mincey, and Maisy Campbell all scored two runs each with Kaley Barnes, Callia Kuroski, Taylor Wilkinson, and Brooke Cooper rounding out the 10 scores with a single run apiece.