Nansemond River High softball coach Tim Tarafas wore a glum expression Tuesday as the sun slowly sank behind the distant tree line and and shadows lengthened across the Warriors’ well-groomed field. With his team having just lost to visiting Hickory by a 2-1 score in eight innings, Tarafas said he wasn’t particularly surprised at how the Hawks scored the decisive run.

“I knew this game would come down to an error in the wrong place at the wrong time for one team or the other,” the first-year coach said. “Unfortunately, we’re the ones who made it.”

The hiccup in question was an errant throw from rightfielder Rishona Penn after she caught a fly ball for the eighth inning’s second out. Hickory had runners on first and second at the time and when Penn uncorked a wild heave into shallow left field, the Hawks sprang into action. Lead runner Amber Phillips, who had tagged up and taken several hard strides off second base, kept on moving and hardly slowed down when left fielder Kara Benson bobbled Penn’s throw after receiving it on several bounces.

So smoothly and quickly did Phillips round third base and head home that there was no play at the plate. Minutes later, she took to the pitching circle and struck out the side and Hickory improved to 10-5 overall and 10-3 in Southeastern District play.

“She did that all on her own,” Hawks coach Ryan Wieck said of Phillips’ run. “She had a better angle on the throw and when she saw it was that far off the mark, she just turned in some great base running.”

Nansemond River, which fell to 8-5 overall and in district play, edged the defending state champions by a run when the teams met in Hickory earlier this season. But Tuesday, the Warriors were mostly mowed down by Phillips, who allowed three hits and struck out 17 batters with what Tarafas felt was considerable aid from the home plate umpire.

“When we scored in the sixth inning, we took him out of it by swinging the bat,” Tarafas said. “But the other seven innings, we let him call the game and he gave her six inches off the outside of the plate at times. We played two teams out there today and one of them wore blue uniforms.”

Hickory, the defending AAA state champions, opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Emily Ambrous singled, was sacrificed to second, took third on a ground out to shortstop and scored on a Shayna Herbst single. Nansemond River answered in the sixth inning when pinch hitter Benson singled, took second on a wild pitch and third on a Stephanie Tarafas ground out and scored on a Kayla Coburn single.

Nansemond River pitcher Jenna Bryant struck out seven Hawks and induced 12 ground ball outs while allowing six hits. The Warriors play a crucial district game Friday when they host city rival King’s Fork.