WALES — After two missed bunt attempts, Grace Sabine was a little relieved to be able to swing away Friday, but that didn’t mean the pressure was any less.
The Oak Hill senior had the winning run on third and had tried to make a suicide squeeze happen, but both attempts went just foul. So Plan B was in order.
“I was a little discouraged, but (Coach Allyson Collins) said to just to hit the ball,” Sabine said.
The Raiders’ No. 3 hitter did just that in a 3-2 win over the Rebels. She put the bat on the ball and drove a high fly to left field. Though Telstar’s Dharma Damon made the catch, she wasn’t going to throw out Emma Hlister racing home for the winning run.
“Emma had an awesome hit to get her on third,” Sabine said. “I get up there and (Collins) gave me two suicide squeezes, and I ruined that. So she was like, ‘Go ahead and hit any way.”
It was significant win for the Raiders (12-1). It not only bumped Oak Hill up to second in Class B South but also secured the Raiders in the Mountain Valley Championship game. The Raiders will play Madison June 2 at Thomas College.
“We knew it was going to be the biggest game of the year,” Sabine said. “We knew it decided if we went to MVCs or not.”
Pitcher Makayla Nadeau pitched a five-hitter while Hlister Jamie Prue and Sabine each had a pair of hits. Brooke Surette had a solo homer that tied it in the sixth.
“It’s probably our biggest win of the season,” Collins said. “Right now, we’re taking it one game at a time, but every game gets us closer to home field advantage and the playoffs. That’s what we’re looking towards.”
Telstar (11-2) was seeded second in Class C South. Though it was a close loss, the Rebels battled against a good hitting Oak Hill team and had leads of 1-0 and 2-1.
‘I’m very pleased with our effort,” Telstar coach Jim Lunney said. “We’ve got to play a little better small ball. We didn’t get some bunts down. We can run the bases. We didn’t get the big hit when we needed it. We had some opportunities.”
Telstar had taken a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Tehya Johnson singled and later scored on a wild pitch. That lead lasted until the bottom of the sixth. Surette led off the inning with a hard hit to right. As Telstar’s Tasha Hart pursued it, the ball landed and took a bizarre hop that went up and over the fielder’s head. It rolled all the way to the fence, giving Surette plenty of time to round the bases.
“My first two at bats were ground outs,” Surette said. “So I was just trying to get on base. I connected and felt it pop right off my bat. I saw it go to right field and it felt really good.”
Telstar pitcher Olivia York allowed eight hits. She struck out three and worked hard to get out of some jams. Oak Hill stranded seven runners through the first five innings. Surette’s homer not only changed the game but set the Raider’s up for the seventh inning heroics.
“We definitely needed to come back and get our spirit back,” Surette said. “I definitely think that played a big role in getting our spirits back up and letting us rally to the win.”
Telstar got a lead-off walk from Bri Vitalie in the seventh. She was bunted over by Damon, but Nadeau got a strike out and then served up a ground out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the inning, Hlister led off with a double and advanced on a wild pitch. York got a strike out, but Sabine finished it off with her sacrifice fly.
“That was the first game that we trailed for the majority of the game,” Collins said. “It’s all about mental toughness and this is a team that’s mentally tough. We lacked that in the past. Luckily, this team has really come together. They’re really gelling. They’re really doing everything they need to do and they believe in themselves.”
Telstar took the early lead when Ashley Savage singled in Damon in the third inning. Oak Hill tied it in the bottom of the inning when Prue put down a squeeze bunt that plated Hlister, who had a one-out triple.
Telstar stranded five and had runners on just about every inning. The Rebels had no extra base hits and got singles from Savage, Johnson, Hayley Peterson, Hart and Damon.
“They had three big hits that led to three runs,” Lunney said. “We didn’t get the big hits. We scored a few of them but we didn’t score enough of them.”
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