At Ronan, the Maidens and defending state champion Lady Pirates went toe-to-toe in a Mission Valley rivalry game that hung in the balance until the final out.
Ronan struck the first blow in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Lindsay “Dash” Clairmont singled with one out. Ashleigh “Rocket” Lynch advanced Clairmont over to second with a sacrifice bunt. Then Turquoise Haggard followed by stroking a RBI single to plate Clairmont and stake Ronan with a one run lead.
Polson would answer in the top of the 4th inning when Heidi “Rumblin” Rausch drew a walk. Shay “The Tiger” Duford followed with a long fly ball to right field which tapered away from the outfielder, allowing Rausch to advance to third and Duford behind her at second.
A passed ball would allow Rausch to scamper home and knot the score 1-1. The Maidens made some of their own noise in their half of the inning when Haggard drew a two-out walk. Alex Dulmes followed with a single to place runners on first and second. Freshman bottom-of-the-order hitter Alaina Madsen then smacked a two RBI double to plate both Haggard and Dulmes to give the Maidens a 3-1 lead.
Polson would answer right back in the top of the 5th inning when top-of-the-order hitter Kodi Woods bunted and outran the coverage to first. Woods advanced to second on a passed ball. Then Kayla “Mighty KC“ Duford clubbed an RBI single to plate Woods.
“Slammin” Sallie Sams followed with a RBI triple to plate Duford and knot the score once again at 3-3 before the Maiden pitcher struck out the next batter to end the inning. In the Maiden half of the 5th inning, Katie “Crash” Andrews was awarded first after being hit by a pitch. Cleanup hitter Payge DeLaurenti followed with a solid single to right-center. Andrews made a bold move to advance to third, but centerfielder Woods had closed the distance upon fielding the ball and rifled a strike to third base infielder Tina Marquardt, who tagged out Andrews for the second out. A strikout by Lady Pirate Shay Duford would end the threat.
In the top of the 6th inning, number five batter Shay Duford opened with a triple. Kylie Knutson followed with a bunt, which the Maiden third baseman fielded, but was unable to make the tag on Duford straying from third toward home when the ball slipped from her glove, Duford would scamper home and Knutson would take advantage of the commotion by advancing to second. Ashley “Bust a Move” Johnson followed with a grounder through the gap to plate Knutson. Makaliah “Smackin Mak” Wilson would sacrifice Johnson over to second. After another Maiden out, Woods stroked a RBI double to plate Johnson to give the Lady Pirates a 6-3 lead before Ronan could extract themselves from the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Maidens loaded the bases when the bottom-of-the-order reeled off three successive singles by Haggard, Dulmes and Madsen to set the table for top-of-the-order hitter Marissa “Mayhem” McCrea. McCrea did indeed create some mayhem by stroking a RBI single to plate Haggard to trim the deficit by a run. Number two hitter Bethany “Wounded Knee” Colman would follow with a sacrifice hit after a full count to pick up a RBI to trim the Polson lead to a single run 6-5. But Polson pitcher Shay Duford clawed her way out of further damage by striking out Andrews to end the threat.
In the top of the 7th inning, Sams opened with a walk. After cleanup-hitter Rausch went down on strikes, Shay Duford singled to put two runners aboard with one out. Knutson followed with a single of her own, which the Maiden third baseman fielded and pitched too high to the shortstop covering third for the force out, and Sams scampered home to extend the Polson lead 7-5. Johnson singled to load the bases, but Maiden pitcher Colman ended the threat by striking out Wilson and forcing Jessica Bagnell, pinch hitting for Marquardt, to fly out. In the bottom of the 7th, the first two Maiden batters were thrown out and retired on strikes for two away. Dwindling Ronan opportunities rested upon the shoulders of a “Rocket“ named Lynch, who outraced the coverage of an infield chopper by turning on the jets to beat the throw to first base to keep Maiden hopes alive. Haggard came to the plate representing the tying run and was hit by a pitch to put two runners aboard. Dulmes then came to the plate representing the winning run, but hit an infield grounder to second baseman Sams, who flipped it to first to end the game.
Polson - 000 - 123 - 1 - 7
Ronan - 010 - 202 - 0 - 5
Polson - 10 hits and one error. Ronan - 11 hits and three errors.
Shay Duford and Kayla Duford. Bethany Colman and Katie Andrews. W - S. Duford (5 strikeouts, 11 hits, 1 walk, 2 hbp). L - Colman (6 strikeouts, 10 hits, 3 walks)
Polson - Kodi Woods 2-4, K. Duford 1-4, Sallie Sams 1-2, Heidi Rausch 0-3, S. Duford 2-3, Kylie Knutson 0-2, Ashley Johnson 3-4, Makaliah Wilson 0-3, Martina Marquardt 0-3, Jessica Bagnell 0-1. 3B - Sams, S. Duford. 2B - Woods. RBIs - K. Duford, Sams, Woods, Johnson. SacH - Wilson.
[Knutson had a pair of runs score during her plate appearances, but untimely Maiden errors nullified her hits and negated picking up any RBIs]
Ronan - Marissa McCrea 2-4, Colman 0-2, Andrews, 0-3, Payge DeLaurenti 1-4, Lindsay Clairmont 1-4, Ashleigh Lynch 1-3, Turquoise Haggard 2-2, Alex Dulmes 2-4, Alaina Madsen 2-3. 2B - Madsen. RBIs - Madsen 2, Haggard, Colman, McCrea. SB - Christine Robinson.SacB - Lynch. SacH - Colman.
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