It was Theodore Roosevelt who said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." It was Virginia senior catcher Jenn Wynn and sophomore pitcher Coty Tolar who followed that mantra yesterday at the Park as the Cavaliers (16-21, 5-3 ACC) blanked the Maryland Terrapins (19-12, 3-3 ACC) 2-0 to finish 2-1 in a three-game series with their ACC neighbor and rival. These wins came mainly behind the huge contributions by the pitching-catching duo.
After a quiet first two innings from both teams, Wynn bellowed a booming statement with her bat in the bottom of the third to put the Cavaliers on the scoreboard first. With sophomore Elea Crockett on second base, Wynn blasted a 0-1 pitch over the left center fence for her fifth home run of the season, which gave the Cavaliers the 2-0 lead they would keep for the rest of the day.
Defensively, Wynn also anchored Virginia yesterday. Adjusting to an unconventional strike zone, Wynn called a spectacular game, keeping Maryland batters out of synch all day.
"Even though Jenn didn't have the greatest hitting day for her on Saturday, she battled and came back and stayed focused," Virginia coach Cheryl Sprangel said. "She was excellent in calling the game, really smart."
Of course, the pitcher needs to hit the spots the catcher is calling in order for the combination to work. After the Cavaliers got two runs from Wynn's home run, Tolar zoned in and dialed in a remarkable performance.
"She was hitting her spots," Wynn said. "The umpire kind of had a strange zone, but she adjusted after the first inning. We used it -- she threw the ball right where she needed it. She did a great job."
Tolar retired the last 17 consecutive batters with assassin-like precision. After the third, each inning Tolar mowed down the Terrapins in one-two-three fashion.
"I stayed calm the whole game," Tolar said. "They got two hits early, and then I just settled down and let the defense work. I wasn't trying to strike people out, but I was just trying to keep it in the infield for groundouts."
The beneficiary of all the ground balls Tolar produced was clearly sophomore second baseman Elea Crockett. And Crockett, like a well-oiled machine, fielded every one and threw out the runner. Crockett finished with eight assists on the day, one shy of a single-game record for the Cavaliers.
"Elea is definitely one of the best defensive players because she's so quick and has great range to both sides," Sprangel said. "If somebody is going to hit against our team, the right side is the worst place to hit it."
All in all, the Cavaliers continued their stellar play in ACC games. Even though the Terrapins split the two games on Saturday, they did not score an earned run all weekend, a testament to the strong pitching of Tolar and junior Erin Horn. Once the Virginia defense tightened up, the Cavaliers proved to be a tough competitor.
"We are confident, especially in the ACC," Tolar said. "We know we can hang with anyone. We are hard to beat when we our defense works and we get a couple runs. We are stepping it up and keeping teams down."
That kind of attitude and the kind of results produced this weekend for the Cavaliers would certainly make even Teddy Roosevelt proud.
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