Karagiorgis Slam Lifts Falcons to 7-0 Win
SOUTH RIIDING, VA - Sophomore Kristina Karagiorgis went 3-for-4 with an inside-the-park grand slam home run and also struck out eight in three innings of relief to power Briar Woods past host Freedom 7-0 in Dulles District softball action Tuesday night in South Riding.
Karagiorgis helped give the Falcons (11-3, 7-3 Dulles District) a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when she tripled with one out and scored on a ground out off the bat of freshman Macy Jones.
In the second, Briar Woods loaded the bases on a walk by junior Hayley Olson, a fielder's choice by sophomore Alex Fierszt and a single by junior Holly Dominguez. Karagiorgis then ripped a shot to the fence in right center and legged out the relay for the first inside-the-park - and first grand slam - home run in Falcon softball history.
Karagiorgis later singled in the fourth, but fell a double shy of becoming the first Falcon to hit for the cycle when she popped up to short in the fifth.
The Falcons tacked on single runs in the third and fifth innings to cap the scoring. In the third, junior Kate Fowler laced a one-out triple to dead center and later scored on a single by Hayley Olson.
In the fifth, sophomore Jillian Olson reached on a two-base outfield error, took third on a passed ball and scored on a single by Fowler.
Jones (2-0) was masterful over the first four innings in the circle, allowing just one hit and striking out 10 of the 13 batters she faced. She recorded the first two outs of the game by strikeout before giving up a sharp single to right. She then struck out the next six Eagles over the following two-plus innings before getting a ground out to third to
end the fourth inning.
Karagiorgis picked up the save after allowing three hits and striking out eight over the final three frames. After giving up a single and a double to the first two batters she faced, Karagiorgis settled down to strike out the next three Eagle hitters to end the fifth. She sandwiched two more strikeouts around a single in the sixth before striking out the side in the seventh.
The combined 18 strikeouts by Jones and Karagiorgis is a school single-game record, surpassing the former mark of 16 set by Fowler and Jones against Freedom earlier this season.
Fowler continued her recent hot hitting, going 2-for-4 with a run-scoring single and a triple. Dominguez, Jones and Hayley Olson each collected a hit.
