Powered by a five-run first inning, Shady collected 12 hits, rolling to a 9-3 win over Independence in the Class AAA Region 3 Section tournament Monday in Coal City.
The two teams will battle one more time on Tuesday in Coal City for the sectional championship, weather permitting. The winner will advance to the regional round where Hebert Hoover awaits in a best-of-3 series to be played next week.
Playing through a consistent rain storm most of the evening, the Tigers took advantage of a slick ball and the pitching command issues that came with it.
“The ball is wet and I went out and talked to (starting pitcher) Paytin (Brehm) and she said, ‘Gimme one more.'” Indy head coach Ken Adkins said. “We just couldn’t get out of that first inning. You take away that first inning and it’s a 4-3 game and we gave a couple of runs away in the middle of that.
“We just have to do a better job of – we can’t have a big inning. But I put my own kids in this position by choosing to play today. We talked about it before the game and we had a choice to wait and do it tomorrow but the field, it was good. I usually regret these when bad things happen. It’s great when it works out but Nikki and I both agreed we wanted to get it in.”
In an elimination setting, neither pressure nor the weather felt like a hindrance for the Tigers who played loose from the jump.
“I told them we were playing in the same conditions that they’re playing in so it’s about who’s going to take it and go with it better,” Shady head coach Nikki May said.
Shady ran with it.
With Raegan Lane and Brooklynn Blankenship reaching on free passes to open the game, the Tigers immediately applied the pressure and Indy struggled to withstand it. Peyton Raban scored Lane with a ground ball error to plate the first run before Jenna Joyce drew a walk to load the bases.
Bella Sturgill promptly unloaded them with a three-run double into the gap to extend the advantage to 4-0 and chase Brehm form the game. A Lacey Osborne groundout plated Sturgill to cap the scoring and secure the first out but by the end of the frame the Tigers had reset their lineup for the second.
It mattered little though as they loaded the bases for Osborne with two outs in the top of the second but Indy catcher Ava Parks used a back pick at first base to catch the runner and diffuse the threat.But while the Patriots used that play to prevent another big inning they never mustered one of their own.
They had a chance in the fifth, down 8-3 with a pair of runners on and no outs, but a liner off the bat of No. 3 hitter Emma Lilly was snagged and thrown to second for a double play. The miscue proved costly with the Patriots pushing a pair of runners into scoring position but were never able to get them home.
“All we keep working on is doing our jobs and getting over it if it does happen so we can make another play,” Mays said. “That’s what we’ve been working on – doing our job in the field.”
“That’s a big inning there,” Adkins said. “That’s a rocket and the girl catches it. If that’s three inches the other way it’s a huge inning. And we talked about it last time. The bottom (of the lineup) set up the top and we couldn’t do that today.”
Prior to Indy’s comeback charge Shady pushed the lead to 7-0 on RBI from Kenidi Creager and Lane in the third inning.
Lilly snapped the shutout with an RBI single in the bottom of the third before Brehm lined a shot into center to plate two more but a mammoth home run off the bat of Joyce pushed the advantage back to 8-3. Osborne put the final touches on the night in the sixth with a single that plated Raban.
In addition to her terrific night at the plate, Joyce held strong in the circle, navigating the slippery, muddy conditions to fan seven and scatter five hits in a complete-game effort.
“Jenna pitched a goof game today,” Adkins said. “She did a better job hitting spots and kept us off-balance a little bit with the changeup. We put balls in play but just didn’t get good hits like we normally hit. I told the kids there’s not much you can say. You just come back tomorrow.”
Bella Lilly led Indy with two hits in the loss. Joyce, Brilee Cales, Lane and Osborne had two hits each for Shady with Sturgill driving in three runs.
About the Author
