SOFTBALL: Carterville comes back on Nashville to win Sectional
After stranding the bases loaded with nobody out in the top of the first inning of Saturday's Johnston City 2A softball Sectional Final against Nashville, it looked like it would be an uphill climb for Carterville against one of the area's top pitchers in Maci Ingram and the last team to beat them during the regular season.
But after playing from behind most of the game, the Lady Lions scored three times in the last two innings, plated the go-ahead run on Kylee Rock's sacrifice fly in the seventh, and went on to eliminate the Hornettes 3-2 to advance into Monday's Super-Sectional.
"I've never been more happy to hit a sac fly to left field in my life," Rock said after the game. "(Ingram) kept throwing me inside pitches, I kept fouling them off. I thought they would go outside and that's kind of what I was looking for, but I just turned on that one and got some power on it."
The big hit in the inning came on a one-out RBI double by lead-off hitter Megan Barrett that brought in Becky Peterson to tie the score and put Taylor Williams at third. Both Peterson and Williams drew walks from the bottom of the lineup against Ingram.
"Hats off to the bottom of our order for getting that thing turned over," said Carterville head coach Brett Diel. "We had 7-8-9 batting and we said hey, we've got to get the lineup turned over, give us a chance. If it turns over, that means we have a runner on at least, we have a shot. Freshman Megan Barrett in the one spot had a big hit to tie the game. I tell you what, we go out and play some defense and Avery (English) was solid in the circle all day, we just didn't give up. It was great."
Barrett and Rock had singles in the top of the first for the Lady Lions, and English popped a bunt over charging first baseman Nellie Snead's head to load the bases, but Ingram induced a force-out at home and got a pair of strikeouts to escape the jam unharmed.
"At least it was in their heads that we had the ability to get some people on at any point," Diel said, "and then in the seventh inning when we did get those people on, that time we got the clutch hit. In the postseason it's about getting clutch hits, pitching well and playing good defense, and we did that today."
Ingram would end up striking out six straight and retiring twelve in a row through the fourth inning.
"In the first inning, I was really proud of our postseason experience and our poise," said Nashville coach Dempsey Witte. "They had the bases loaded with no outs and to get out of that, that gave us a lift."
The Hornettes got on the board with Snead's RBI double against English in the top of the second, scoring Emily Thompson who had singled.
The score remained 1-0 in the top of the sixth when English drew a walk then was nearly doubled off of first base on a shallow fly ball to center field hit by Carly Callahan, but the throw was up the line. English stole second moments later and came in on Megan Hampton's two-out RBI double, but Nashville struck right back with a solo homer from Briah Winchester in the bottom of the inning to push ahead 2-1.
"We were able to score first and get rolling," Witte said, "they put a run on and we were able to answer, Briah had the home run. It was a game of complete up and down swings. I can't be more proud of the way our kids battled and competed."
With three outs to go, Ingram retired the first Carterville batter in the top of the seventh before walking Peterson on four pitches. Williams then worked a full count before also reaching base on a free pass, which set up the big double by Barrett.
With one out, two on, and first base open, the Hornettes elected to pitch to Rock rather than load the bases for English to set up a force-out at any base and a potential game-ending double play.
"English had two home runs against us last time and she's swinging it pretty well, so it's kind of pick your poison with that kind of lineup," Witte said. "Sometimes you've got to tip your hat. We've had more success against Rock than English, so that's a decision you live with."
Diel said he was only "a little bit" surprised at the decision.
"You've got to look at what your options are," said Diel. "On deck is Avery English who the last game we played (with Nashville) hit two out on Ingram. Kylee did exactly what she needed to do there and got us a run with a fly ball."
English retired the side in order in the seventh, as Nashville's Winchester was left in the holster on deck. The Carterville hurler owned the top of the Hornettes' lineup, which combined to go 0-for-11.
Both pitchers allowed five hits, struck out seven and hit a batter, but walks hurt Ingram (four) a lot more than English (three) - each of the Lady Lions' three runs scored came from hitters who reached via bases on balls.
Barrett (2-4, RBI, 2B), Rock (1-3, GW RBI, SAC), English (1-2, R, 2 BB), and Hampton (1-3, RBI, 2B) had the hits for Carterville; Thompson (2-3, R), Winchester (1-3, solo HR), Snead (1-1, RBI, 2B, BB, HBP) and Daley Buchanan (1-3) did the hitting for the Hornettes.
Nashville and Carterville entered the game as the No. 1 and No. 9 teams in the final Illinois Coaches Association poll respectively, and split their head-to-head regular season meetings as well as the SIRR Mississippi Division title.
Winners of eleven in a row and nineteen of their last twenty games, Carterville (28-6) will take on the No. 2 team in Class 2A, Teutopolis, in Tuesday's Johnston City Super-Sectional. First pitch is set for 4:00 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Monday, but wet field conditions moved it back a day.