The ball kept rolling. Howard kept running.

“I knew I had to get a few (bases),” the senior shortstop said. “I was rounding second base, and she was still running for it. I knew I wasn’t going to get tagged out at third base again.”

Howard had been thrown out earlier in the game trying to turn a double into a triple. This time, Lisbon wasn’t catching her. Howard raced around the bases and didn’t stop until arriving in the jubilant greeting of her teammates. Her dramatic two-run homer delivered her Rebels to a 5-4 win over the Greyhounds.

“When she hit that, I knew it was ‘touch them all,'” Telstar coach Jim Lunney said. “She crushed it.”

Howard finished with three hits and four RBIs for the Rebels (10-1), helping Telstar rally from a 4-3 deficit in the final inning. The Rebels are ranked second in Class C South.

“We definitely had a lot of pressure on us,” Howard said. “We just knew that we couldn’t get the third out.”

It was a disappointing loss for the Greyhounds (7-4) but a strong performance for a Lisbon team that ranks fourth in Class C South. Ali Sult led the Greyhounds with a hit and three RBIs. while Mallory Fairbanks had a pair of hits.

“That’s one of those game where you know there’s going to have to be a winner and a loser,” Lisbon coach Terri Tlumac said. “The way we were playing in that game, we definitely had the momentum and the potential to win the game. We were ahead going into the seventh, and we had all the confidence in the world in ourselves and the team to win the game. If you’re going to lose, that’s a heck of a way to lose. That was a great hit by (Howard) and a well-coached team. It is what it is, and you can’t change that.”

Lisbon had taken a 4-3 lead in the sixth. Jasmin Le tripled and Sult followed with a sacrifice fly. An error put another Greyhound on base but a tremendous leaping catch by Howard at short ended the inning.

“The girls were excited,” Tlumac said. “They came off the field all jazzed up, yelling and hollering. They were pumped. They were playing a great game.”

Telstar had the heart of its order due up in the seventh. The Rebels knew the opportunity was there to make something happen. Pitcher Olivia York, the No. 2 hitter, led off and drew a walk.

“I knew I had to get on base or else we didn’t have much of a chance,” York said. “That’s usually how it has gone for us. if we got that one out, we don’t have the momentum to push through. So I knew it was now or not.”

With her on base, Howard could sense the momentum building. Coach Lunney had told the team that if York got on to lead off, it would take just two more hitters to finish the game. He was close. It took just Howard.

“That we definitely a positive and uplifting, having the meat of our lineup coming up,” Howard said. “It definitely helped to get up with no outs and a runner in scoring position.”

Howard jumped on an outside pitch  on which she’s been focusing her swings. She took it to a gap in deep right and had the Lisbon outfielders chasing. Howard was rounding second before the Greyhounds even caught up to the ball.

“I knew I couldn’t let that outside pitch go by me,” Howard said. “I’ve been working on that one. Coach preaches to drill it to right field. So I knew I had to.”

Howard helped Telstar build the early lead. She doubled in Ashley Savage in the first. Savage finished the game with two hits and two runs scored. In the third, a fielder’s choice by Howard plated Savage. Then a Haley Peterson triple scored Tehya Johnson for the 3-0 lead.

Lisbon rallied to tie it in the fourth. Sult doubled home Fairbanks and Le. Then Sult eventually scored on a Morgan Fenderson double.

“They played a whale of a game,” Lunney said of the Greyhounds. “Their pitcher threw well, and they hit the ball really well. That’s the hardest (York) has been hit all year. They put the bat on the ball.”

York allowed six hits and struck out four in cold and blustery conditions. Alyssa Hall scattered eight hits for the Greyhounds and struck out two. Both teams had some great defensive plays. Bree Staples made a splendid diving play on a grounder at second for Lisbon. Telstar got some nice plays from catcher Blair Stevens, Johnson and first and Peterson in center.

“This came down to who gets the last hit and whoever was going to deliver, and Becca stepped up,” Lunney said.

kmills@sunjournal.com

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