by Rusty Ellis
The White County Warriorettes saved their season not once, but twice on Wednesday with a pair of last-inning wins over Stone Memorial and DeKalb County in the District 7/AAA Tournament.
First, they knocked off Stone Memorial 3-2, thanks to a two-run rally in the bottom of the seventh.
The Lady Panthers grabbed a 2-0 lead with a Kara VonAchen RBI triple and a Cadence Cox RBI Double in the top of the third inning off WCHS starter Hannah Crawford.
Crawford locked in from there however, as she didn’t allow a single run for the remainder of her start, going seven innings and striking out eight in the process.
White County got a run back in the bottom of the fourth inning, as a base-hit scored Abigail Schalk, but a baserunning error led to a double-play to end the inning with the Warriorettes still trailing 2-1.
Stone starting pitcher Haley Dalton was fantastic early as well, as she limited Sparta offensively going into the bottom of the seventh.
The Warriorettes got a leadoff walk from Maddie Rust, who Schalk pinch-ran for once again. After a Hannah Poteet single, Schalk scored on an Ashlyn Rohlander RBI single to tie the game up.
After Kylie Norvell was intentionally walked, Ryleigh Burchett was walked with the bases-loaded to score the game-winning run, as Sparta advanced with the 3-2 victory.
Lost in all of the heroics was Crawford’s performance in the circle, as head coach Jerry Roberts noted that Crawford’s emergence as a pitching option has really helped White County’s season along.
“Second half of the season, she’s been a savior for sure,” Roberts said. “Since we’ve had some injuries, she’s really stepped up, and she did a great job keeping us in the ballgame today.”
It wasn’t a memorable day at the plate for Burchett, but she did what seniors are supposed to do in big at-bats in the seventh: score the run, no matter what it takes.
“That’s a tough situation, but Ryleigh did a good job at being selective,” Roberts said. “She’s a senior, so she knows what she’s supposed to do in that situation.”
In game two against DeKalb, the Warriorettes took an early lead on an RBI bunt single by Abigayle Finan in the top of the first and at first, it seemed like that was all the support starter Savannah Barr would need.
Barr shut out DeKalb through the first three innings before the Tigerettes finally got to her for two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a Bryna Pelham two-run double.
Sparta wasted little time tying the score right back up, as a wild pitch scored the game-tying run in the top of the fifth. After a Morgan Walker leadoff triple to start the bottom half however, DeKalb County got two runs in the inning on an Aniston Farler RBI single and a Gracie Randolph RBI groundout to take a 4-2 lead.
White County wasn’t done just yet though, as with runners on second and third and two outs in a 1-2 count, back-to-back wild pitches brought across the tying runs and sent the game to the seventh with a 4-4 score.
There, Maddie Rust came through with the big hit, as she smoked a three-run double to give Sparta a 7-4 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Crawford, who entered the game in the bottom of the fifth, kept DeKalb off the scoreboard and clinched the 7-4 win for White County.
“Survive and advance,” Roberts said. “We talked about having to win three games straight to make it to the region, and that’s two of them…we fought hard and did everything we could to pull out this victory. Savannah and Hannah were really good, this is the team I thought I had at the beginning of the season.”
The aggressiveness on the bases was ultimately a deciding factor in the game, as Sparta took advantage of three wild pitches to score runs.
“We talked about how (Kora Kilgore) was starting to get tired, so we had to read the ball carefully,” Roberts said. “I told them that if it looked low or high, to get a couple extra steps so if it got by, we’d be walking in.”
The Warriorettes will now battle Macon County for the second spot in the district championship at 5 P.M., as Roberts knows he’s still got one really good team left in front of them.
“Just keep making the routine plays,” Roberts said. “We’ve got to make plays behind the pitcher, and keep playing like we have for the last week.”
