The fourth-seeded Bulldogs squandered two big leads but made the plays when they had to, especially in a 10th inning that ended on a controversial note when Morgan Rush tagged up and scored on Eva Shepherd's sacrifice fly to end the game. Mountain Valley coaches contended Rush left the bag early and appealed the play to no avail.
"I thought it was a very bad call," Mountain Valley coach Lisa Russell said. "She left the base before it was even caught. She came off, went back and left before it even hit the girl's glove."
Hall-Dale celebrated by dumping a bucket of water over coach Christen Lachapelle's head, but the Bulldogs (14-4) return to the field Tuesday to play top-seeded Madison for the Western Maine Class C regional championship. Sixth-seeded Mountain Valley finishes at 13-6.
The Bulldogs led 6-1 after two innings and 8-4 after four, but the Falcons never caved. They scored four runs in the fifth inning on three hits and three Hall-Dale errors. Both teams settled down after that and played error-less ball over the last five innings. The Falcons threatened to take the lead in the top of the 10th when pinch-runner Abby Mazza attempted to score from second on Karen Flaherty's single to center field, but sophomore Emma Begin came up throwing and nipped Mazza at the plate with a one-hop throw to catcher Emily Maynard.
"That was her first throw-'em-out-at-home type of deal," Lachapelle said of Begin. "But the thing we talk about, come up firing, they're going to test you. She's grown a lot in the last year and a half. She's been kind of put in center solidly this year."
Rush led off the bottom of the 10th with a single up the middle and No. 9 hitter Haley Houdlette bunted her to second. Maynard followed with an infield hit that moved Rush to third, which set the stage for Shepherd.
"Normally I'm so nervous," Shepherd said. "I was just like, just a single, get it through. But of course I popped it up."
Alyson Carlton caught the ball in medium left field but her throw to the plate was late and off line.
"It was bang-bang," Lachapelle said of the contention Rush left early. "At that point an umpire's got the catch and an umpire's got the bag for her coming back, so it's his judgment call."
The Bulldogs had a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth when Olivia Maynard led off the inning with a double down the left field line, but after she moved to third on an infield out, she was stranded there as Falcons starter Lindsay Marston induced a popup and ground ball. Becca Ackerson picked up the win in relief of starter Olivia Maynard. She came on in the fifth when the Falcons scored three runs and Hall-Dale's defense kicked the ball around a little, but she settled down nicely after that, picking up five strikeouts without allowing a run the rest of the way.
Shepherd came back with two big plays at shortstop after committing two errors earlier in the game, the best going to her knees in the sixth and nipping a runner on a force play at second to end the inning.
"Everything mattered," Shepherd said. "Not that it didn't before. I wasn't focused. I said ' I have to do this, I have to get my head in this,' for the team not just for me."
After spotting the Falcons a run, the Bulldogs scored twice in the bottom of the first inning with the help of an error and some aggressive baserunning. Emily Maynard led with a single and after an out Ackerson bunted her way on base and both scored. They added four in the second on two hits, from Ackerson and Olivia Maynard and two more Falcons errors. Ackerson led Hall-Dale with three hits and three runs while Emily and Olivia Maynard each had a pair of hits, as did Rush
Carlton doubled twice for Mountain Valley while Katie Collette added two singles.
"Gary Hawkins - 621-5638"
"ghawkins@centralmaine.com"
"Twitter: @GaryHawkinsKJ"
0 comments:
Post a Comment