Best of the Beach District
Gressley, Knight, and Spencer: Friends and Foes
Fans of Beach District softball know Rose Gressley (Green Run), Brittany Spencer (First Colonial), and Kendra Knight (Salem) as fierce competitors and as three of the top players in the area. During the high school season, the ladies battle it out for the district; after the season is over, the trio will put the previous year's battles behind them and don the matching uniforms of the Virginia Legends; a top travel team which competes on the national stage. According to their coach Barry Paul, the team's mission is to play against the best.
"Our number one goal is to play at the highest level, and to prepare the girls to play collegiately at a high level."
While the Legends practice and play year round, the girls play for school pride in the spring. Last season Gressley pitcher a one-hitter against First Colonial. Unfortunately for the Stallions, the Patriot's pitcher that night was Spencer who spun a no-hitter. In late March of this year, Salem's Knight fanned 16 Stallions and tossed a no-hitter in a much anticipated showdown between her and Gressley. Knight's performance gave the defending Beach District pitcher of the year her first loss of this young season. Last year Knight and Gressley struck out 20 batters each in an extra inning thriller.
How good are these three hurlers? In order to make 1st Team All-District, Spencer and her career 40-21 record, 1.76 ERA, four no-hitters, and nine one-hitters is playing first base this season. Spencer is actually making the move to prepare for her college career at Longwood University where she will be attending on a softball scholarship. But as great as she has been, she hasn't cracked the first team as a pitcher. With a career .320 average (.354 last season with 13 stolen bases), Spencer hopes to get there this year as a position player. She is swinging at a .450 clip two weeks into the 2007 campaign. While no longer the primary pitcher for the Patriots, Spencer does see some time on the mounds. In her 10 innings pitched thus far this season, the multi-talented star has yet to allow an earned run, and has 13 punch-outs and a save.
According to virginialegends.com, Gressley finished the 2006 season with a 9-6 record, a miniscule 0.81 ERA, and 226 strikeouts in 119 innings. Along with her pitching prowess, she dominated at the plate with a .544 average. In addition to pitcher of the year and all-district honors, Gressley was named 1st team All-Tidewater, and 1st team All-Eastern Region. After this season she will be playing for a top softball program at Florida Atlantic University, and dreams of one day playing professionally.
While Gressley and Spencer have been on the Virginia Legends for a couple of years, Knight is one of the newest additions to the team, but they know her well.
"Kendra is new to our travel team," Spencer says of Knight prior to the start of the season. "But I know her from other teams. This is going to be a really good year for her."
Six games into the high school season, Spencer's predictions appear to be correct; Knight has been almost untouchable to start out her junior season: one perfect game, three no-hitters, and five shut-outs. She has struck out 98 would-be batters, allowed only one earned run, and given up just three hits. At the plate, she is hitting .700. Last season she struck out 16 batters a game, and this season she is even better. Teams such as Lake Taylor have been completely overmatched. Out of 21 outs recorded against the Titans, 20 were via punch-out, and one was a weak tapper back to the mound.
She may have bested Gressley in their first meeting this season, but Knight has enjoyed player with her and Spencer on the Legends.
"They are great players and good people," the SunDevil hurler says of her new teammates. "It's fun. They are a good team, and an awesome group of girls."
The Virginia Legends are one of the top travel teams in the country. Last season they placed fifth at the national ASA tournament, and in the last five years over 25 of their players have received scholarships to Division I softball programs.
"Our girls are well prepared for the college game because of the level of competition we play against," Legends player representative and assistant coach James Spencer (Brittany's father) explains.
As for the success his daughter, Gressley, and Knight have had; the elder Spencer knows it's all about how the approach the game.
"When they step on the field they bring intensity. They are huge competitors and they don't like to lose."
Now that Knight is on the team, Coach Spencer now calls a formidable foe an ally.
"Whenever we played Kendra we knew we had to raise our level of play."
While Knight got the best of Gressley earlier this year, their coach is quick to point out who has been dominating the competition for years.
"Rose puts the game on her shoulders," Coach Spencer explains. "She rarely has a bad day of pitching, but if she does, she can step into the batter's box and change the game with one swing. She takes loses very personally."
As teammates, the trio does very little losing. During the high school season somebody has to lose. Knight and the SunDevils are out to an early lead, but there is still a lot of season left to be played.
