HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL: Rylee Terry continues breakout season as Rural Retreat downs Northwood in Hogo tourney (copy)
Rural Retreat's Rylee Terry pitches against Northwood on Monday evening.
Northwood's Bailee Nutter swings for a hit against Rural Retreat.
Rural Retreat's Hailey Whalen tags Northwood's Kiara Buskill at second base.
Northwood's Abby Blevins misses the tag at second base on Rural Retreat runner Olivia Crouse.
Rural Retreat's Reagan Evans gets the out at first base on Northwood's Bailee Nutter.
Rural Retreat's Rylee Terry pitches against Northwood on Monday evening.
Rural Retreat's Kynlee Lilly swings for a hit against Northwood.
Northwood's Abby Blevins swings at the ball against Rural Retreat.
Rural Retreat's Summer Shelton hits the ball against Northwood.
Rural Retreat's Hailey Whalen gets on first base safe as Northwood's Maddie Robinson waits on the throw.
Northwood's Bailee Nutter throws a pitch at Rural Retreat on Monday evening.
Rural Retreat's Reagan Evans catches the ball for an out on Northwood.
RURAL RETREAT, Va. – For the past four years, Kailey Davidson controlled the circle for the Rural Retreat softball team.
A new name emerged this spring for the Indians, and the wins keep coming.
Meet Rylee Terry.
The 5-foot-3 freshman right-hander allowed just one hit on Monday as Rural Retreat rolled to a 17-0 win over the Northwood Panthers in the opening round of the Hogoheegeee District tournament at Rural Retreat Elementary School.
Terry recorded nine strikeouts and allowed just two hits as the Indians defeated Northwood by a 7-1 margin on May 5. She also crafted a no-hitter against Castlewood on March 26.
“It’s exciting to do this well on the varsity,” Terry said. “I wasn’t nervous entering the season because of my background in travel ball.”
Terry, 15, competes on the 18-under squad for the Radford-based NRV Lady Rattlers softball organization.
Along with a curve, the Terry arsenal includes a screwball, rise ball, knuckle ball and a circle change. She formerly trained with famed pitching instructor Denny Tincher and now works with a Radford based coach.
Jason Terry, Rylee’s father and a former Rural Retreat football player, taught Rylee the basics of her craft.
“Dad taught both me and my older sister how to pitch,” Rylee said. “My best pitch tonight was the outside curveball.”
Rural Retreat (11-10) will face Honaker (11-7) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the tournament semifinals at Emory & Henry.
According to Rural Retreat head coach John Dix, Davidson established a high standard.
“Kailey was something else,” Dix said. “She could hit her spots and was always working to get better.”
Dix has been pleased with the emergence of Terry, who has a 9-4 record.
“Rylee has been outstanding,” Dix said.
The Indians were dominant at the plate with 16 hits and on the bases with five steals.
“Our athleticism is a strength,” Dix said. “We’ve had baserunners thrown out trying to steal, but we try to stay on the offensive.”
Terry also starred on offense, driving in four runs on three hits from the No. 9 position.
“I take pride in being a balanced player,” Terry said.
Lexi Buckingham brought in three runs on three hits, while Reagan Evans, Hailey Whalen and Maggie Hall all delivered two hits.
Evans and leadoff batter Olivia Crouse are the only seniors in the lineup. Sophomore catcher Kynlee Lilly is hitting at a torrid .561 clip and tops the team in stolen bases
A 10-run barrage in the fourth inning led to the mercy rule.
Northwood also faced a major transition this season as longtime assistant Nichole Poore replaced B.J. Buchanan as the head coach. Buchanan, who now assists Poore, compiled a record of 206-159 with the Panthers from 2008-2022.
Poore, a pitching standout at Patrick Henry and the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, has served as pitching instructor at Emory & Henry, and on the travel ball level.
The latest pitching standout for Northwood is Bailee Nutter. A 5-5 sophomore, Nutter recently broke the school single-season strikeout record with 204 and leads the team in hitting with an average over .300.
“Bailee has a bright future,” Poore said. “She works hard at the game and has made a great improvement since last year. Bailee can move her pitches around and has a good spin game.”
Nutter, a travel ball veteran who has studied under Tincher and Poore, added five strikeouts on Monday. But the Panthers had no answer for the balanced Indians.
“Rural Retreat was ready to play,” Poore said. “They are well-coached and aggressive.”
The Panthers were hurt by eight errors and three walks.
“We have an inexperienced team,” Poore said.
Maletta Adair, Kiara Buskill and Olivia Cardwell are the lone seniors on the Northwood roster. Shortstop Taylor Collins was sidelined by a knee injury early in the season.
The lone hit for Northwood (6-15) came on a bloop single by Nutter in the second inning.
Dix hopes Monday’s offensive outburst carries over to Tuesday’s semifinal matchup.
“Nutter is a great pitcher, so we had to put in the work on offense,” Dix said. “Honaker got us twice in the regular season, but both games were close. We just have to go back to work.”
Northwood 000 00-0 1 8
Rural Retreat 214 (10)x-17 16 1
Nutter and Salyer. Terry and Lilly. W-Terry. L-Nutter. HR-none.
