RADFORD, Va. – Wiping tears from her eyes, Holston High School shortstop Faith Ritchie summed up what the rest of her teammates were likely feeling.

“Coming this far and then not walking away with the title is always hard,” Ritchie said.

Hurt by three errors and an opportunistic Gretna offense, the Cavaliers suffered a 5-1 loss in the finals of the VHSL Group A softball tournament at Radford University on Saturday morning.

There was no extra-inning drama, late comebacks or fantastic finishes that had defined Holston‘s postseason run. Instead, Gretna (18-7) ended the game with five unanswered runs to claim the state crown.

“It’s really frustrating,” Ritchie said. “We haven’t let down like that all season and it just sucks that it had to come now.”

After surviving for an epic 18-inning quarterfinal win over Coeburn and dispatching Nandua in a 10-inning state semifinal thriller Friday, things started off on a positive note for Holston on Saturday.

The Cavs (24-3) rapped out two hits – including an RBI double by Brianna Thomas – in grabbing a 1-0 lead in the opening inning.

“I was excited,” Ritchie said. “Normally, one run is all we need.”

However, it only served as motivation for Gretna pitcher Nichole Mills. The efficient junior right-hander yielded only two hits over the final six innings.

“It’s not the way I wanted to start out,” Mills said. “It did make me a little mad, but I knew the offense could come back.”

Mills struck out just two and was a master in damage control in a 6-4 state semifinal victory over Virginia High on Friday. She only had four strikeouts against Holston, but was aided by a sure-handed defense led by second baseman Nina Compton.

“The defense saves me a lot of pitches,” Mills said. “I don’t come out here to strike everybody out.”

That meant few scoring opportunities for Holston. The Cavaliers hit into nine groundball outs.

“We got our bats on the ball,” said Holston coach Lisa Blackburn. “They made the plays.”

Gretna took the lead for good with two runs in the top of the second inning. A pair of two-out errors – including one errant throw that caused two runs to score – was the biggest detriment for Holston.

“We had some miscues and those will always come back to get ya,” Blackburn said. “But we’ve played like champions to get here and they’re champions in my book. I don’t care if we don’t have the championship trophy. They are.”

There was no player gutsier than Holston pitcher Morgan Lowe. Working 35 innings in the circle in the span of five days, the sophomore still managed to toss a four-hitter with six strikeouts.

“I was tired,” Lowe said. “It was a tough game.”

Blackburn was not surprised by the gritty performance that Lowe turned in on a hot day.

“She is gutsy and she is determined and you’re not going to take the ball out of her hands,” Blackburn said. “We just didn’t support her with any runs.”

Thomas had two of Holston’s four hits, while Ritchie and Lowe accounted for the other hits.

It will likely not be the first deep postseason run for the youthful Cavaliers. Holston started seven sophomores on Saturday and had just two seniors – Stephanie Fritts and Katie Applegate – on the roster.

Most of Holston’s players make softball a year-around activity. That’s why sulking over the state title loss will not be done for very long in Damascus.

“They’ll be back out there next week I’m sure, getting ready for summer ball,” Blackburn said.

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