by Lisa Hinton-Valdrighi
Fans got their money’s worth last Tuesday watching a 10-inning nail-biter in Tappahannock when Essex came from behind to edge Lancaster, 9-8, in a Northern Neck District varsity softball game.
Lancaster jumped to a 5-0 lead after two innings then threw the ball around on several fielding errors to give up five runs to the Lady Trojans in the fourth inning and bring up a 5-5 tie at the end of seven innings.
The two teams played through two scoreless extra innings with host Essex leaving the bases loaded in the ninth before the Devils rallied for three runs in the top of the 10th to take an 8-5 lead. But an in-the-park home run cleared the bases and scored three runs for Essex to re-tie the contest at 8-8 in the bottom of the frame…
