Everett’s comeback kids
Published 9:57 pm Thursday, April 21, 2011
EVERETT — Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Everett had some work to do in its showdown with Meadowdale for first place in the Western Conference 3A softball race.
So just like that, the Seagulls got busy.
Everett pushed across four runs in the bottom of the fifth, six m
ore in the bottom of the sixth, held off a Meadowdale rally in the top of the seventh that put the tying runs in scoring position, and the result was a 10-8 victory that went down to the final pitch.
“We came back from the dead,” said a relieved Kyle Peacocke, Everett’s coach. “I’m just real impressed with the character of this team that they showed coming back.”
With the win, the Seagulls leapfrogged Meadowdale into first place in the Wesco 3A standings. Everett improved to 6-1 in the league and 10-2 overall, while the Mavericks dropped to 6-2 and 10-2.
“In terms of trying to win a league championship, this was important for us because they beat us the first time we played (earlier in the season),” Peacocke said. “So this was a big game in terms of some of the goals we want to accomplish this year.”
And it all seemed so improbable a few innings earlier. Because up to then it was all Meadowdale.
The Mavericks used back-to-back home runs from Lily Paschal and Alyssa Reuble for three runs in the first inning, an RBI triple from Kylee Studioso in the third — Everett right fielder C.J. Shaver lost the line drive in a blinding sun, with the ball rolling to the fence — and doubles by Paschal and Studioso wrapped around an intentional walk for two more runs in the fifth.
And to that point Studioso, Meadowdale’s pitcher, had kept the Seagulls in check with just one hit.
But in the fifth the Seagulls combined a hit batter, a single, a walk and two more singles with a Meadowdale error for four runs. And that outburst was just the appetizer.
The main course came in the sixth as the Seagulls sent 10 batters to the plate, taking advantage of five hits, a walk and three Mavericks errors for six runs. With the score 6-6, Anna Hudson had a two-RBI single (her second in as many innings) and teammate Bailee Wetmore followed with a home run to left field for a 10-6 lead.
Importantly, all of Everett’s six runs in the sixth scored with two outs.
Trailing 6-0, Hudson was wondering if this just might not be Everett’s night.
“Honestly, that was going through my mind,” she said. “But once we get going, it’s hard to stop us.”
Still, Meadowdale had some fight left, too. With one out in the seventh, the Mavericks used a walk and three straight singles to score twice and, on a throw to the plate both runners moved into scoring position. But in perhaps the game’s pivotal play, Studioso was out moments later trying to score from third on a pitch that bounced to the backstop.
The Seagulls then registered an infield out to end the game.
“We’ve been talking about this game for the last week,” Hudson said. “We wanted it bad.” And to win in the exciting way they did, “you can’t match the feeling,” she added.
The Seagulls, Peacocke said, “believe in themselves regardless of the situation. I’m just real proud of them. They never give up. Ever.”
Meadowdale, meanwhile, was regretting having missed the chance to pad its hold on first place in the league standings. Still, the Mavericks are only a half-game behind Everett with several conference games yet to play.
“It was a good game,” said Meadowdale coach Dennis Hopkins. The two teams, he added, “are pretty much equal, bat for bat. It was timely hitting on their behalf.”
And in the last inning, Hopkins was thinking the Mavericks might be ready to pull off a miracle of their own. “I think one more inning and we would’ve had them, I really do,” he said.
At Lincoln Field
Meadowdale 301 020 2–8 11 5
Everett 000 046 x–10 9 3
Studioso and Haukap; Levin and Hudson. WP–Levin. LP–Studioso. 2B–Paschal (M), Studioso (M), Shaver (E). 3B–Studioso (M). HR–Paschal (M), Reuble (M), Wetmore (E).
