Delayed gratification
Published 10:43 pm Friday, April 15, 2011
MARYSVILLE — It may have taken a half inning longer than they would have liked, but the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks stamped themselves as the team to beat in Wesco softball.
After blowing a four-run lead in the top of the seventh inning, the Tomahawks pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh, topping the Jackson Timberwolves 5-4 Friday afternoon at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
Katie Buck’s bases-loaded bloop single in the bottom of the seventh snapped a 4-4 tie, giving M-P the victory in a game that pitted the division leaders in the Wesco North and Wesco South.
“Whenever you can get a win like this early on in the season, you can use the momentum for the rest of it,” Marysville-Pilchuck coach KT Allyn said. “It gives us confidence and momentum moving into next week when we have four games. So we’re pretty happy.”
Sacha Clow went 2-for-3 and scored the winning run for Marysville-Pilchuck, which remained undefeated (4-0 league, 7-0 overall). Pitcher Riley Fritz, who came one out away from tossing a shutout, earned the win on the mound.
Megan Cooley went 2-for-3 to lead Jackson (3-2, 6-2).
“That was a good game,” Jackson coach Mike Moran said. “Both teams were fighting and scratching and clawing. We just didn’t get anything early. Calls here and there, one way or the other, and that’s anybody’s game.”
Marysville-Pilchuck seemed to have the game wrapped up, leading 4-0 with two out in the top of the seventh. However, the Tomahawk defense broke down and allowed Jackson to tie the game.
But Marysville-Pilchuck rescued itself in the bottom of the seventh. Clow led the inning off by lining a single to center, was sacrificed to second, and Fritz was intentionally walked. Meg Rollings then lined a single just past diving shortstop Jessica Mirante, but the runners were only able to advance one base, leaving the bases loaded.
That brought Buck to the plate. On a 2-1 pitch Buck hit what looked like a routine pop-up toward third. However, Jackson’s infield was pulled in to cut down the runner at the plate. Mirante raced back and dived for the ball behind third base, but again she came up just short. The ball landed just inside the foul line, allowing Clow to trot home with the winning run.
“I would have preferred to have walked away from that one and not committed the errors in the seventh inning to bring them back in the game,” Allyn said. “But it happened, and we rallied and managed to generate that last winning run.”
The Tomahawks wouldn’t have needed the rally had they maintained their composure in the field in the top of the seventh.
It began with a botched rundown that should have ended the game. With two on and two out, Jackson’s Maddy Mertens singled up the middle. But Chandra Tewari was held up at third following a wide turn and retreated to the bag — just in time to meet Cooley sliding in from second. Cooley headed back to second and found herself in a rundown, but Marysville-Pilchuck misplayed it, allowing Tewari to score and keeping the game alive.
That was just the beginning of the defensive issues for the Tomahawks. After a hit batter reloaded the bases, Erin Bueser and Dewey Davis each hit grounders that could have ended the game. However, both grounders were bobbled. One run scored on Bueser’s grounder and two on the grounder by Davis, knotting the score at 4-4 and unexpectedly sending the game to the bottom of the seventh.
“I’m proud of our kids for coming back,” Moran said. “They could have folded. It’s Friday, let’s go home. They said, ‘Not today,’ so that’s good for them.”
Despite all the action in the seventh, the game’s decisive moments may have come in the first two innings. In both the first and second the Timberwolves loaded the bases — in the second it came with nobody out. But both times Fritz was able to pitch out of the jam without allowing a run.
“That was an ego booster for our defense,” Allyn said. “We were trying to use that energy to fuel our offense, which was slow going at the beginning of the game. That was awesome to be able to hold them to nothing.”
The Tomahawks broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the fifth. Clow drove in the first run with a single to short, then two runs scored when the Timberwolves were unable to execute a play at the plate.
At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.
Jackson 000 000 4–4 7 1
Marysville-Pilchuck 000 031 1–5 7 4
Robison and Wilson, Davis (6). R. Fritz and Christensen. WP–R. Fritz. LP–Robison. 2B–Robison (J), Davis (J), Tetzlaff (J), Martins (MP), Buck (MP). Records–Marysville-Pilchuck 4-0 league, 7-0 overall. Jackson 3-2 league, 6-2 overall.
