With its backs against the wall, Daviess County used clutch hitting in the top of the seventh to come away with a late 2-1 win over Ballard and advance to the next round of the state tournament.
Ballard got on the board first, getting the first hit of the game via leadoff double from Taylor Sanders.
Following the double it was the Bruins aggressiveness on the basepaths that led to a run, something Head Coach John Biggs Sr. said they would have to be prepared for coming into the game.
A groundout to third was an easy out for Daviess County, but Sanders took off for third and the throw from Jessie Daniels at first sailed over Hattie Newman’s head and gave Ballard an early 1-0 lead.
If one were to look up the definition of a pitchers duel in the dictionary, this game would most likely be right next to it.
Raylee Roby and Brooke Gray were locked in for Daviess County and Ballard. Each team had only a rare few hits throughout the majority of the game, as nobody could string anything together.
Gray had the Lady Panthers number throughout the first six innings, continually getting them to chase pitches out of the zone.
“She was running stuff away from us,” Biggs Sr. said. “We felt like some of those pitches that we were getting called on were off the plate. It could’ve been a situation where they were clipping the front half and then really breaking off. She spins it really big. She’s a nice pitcher.”
Biggs Sr. added, saying that Gray was getting ahead often to give her success, so the team continued to try and make adjustments to make her more uncomfortable in the circle as the game unfolded.
“There’s a lot of talking in the dugout about what was going on at the plate,” Biggs Sr. said. “That’s what I love, this group really talks. We were trying to make adjustments to where we could at least put some balls in play.”
Roby on the other hand was trusting her defense to make plays, forcing the Bruins to put the ball in play and only striking out four in her seven innings in the circle.
“Raylee’s a warrior,” Biggs Sr. said. “She’s well beyond her years… She did a really nice job. We made some adjustments because they were making some adjustments at the plate. I’ll be real truthful, during the game when we called some pitches they made some adjustments on some pitches on their own. With Millie behind the plate and the way they communicate with each other, I’ve got no problem with that.”
This determination in the circle gave Daviess County a chance to make something happen in the top of seventh trailing Ballard 1-0.
Katie Mewes battled, leading off the inning with a double and igniting life into the Lady Panthers lineup. Biggs Sr. had preached patience to his team going into the inning and shortly after a strikeout for the first out of the seventh, that approach paid off.
Sophie Simone slapped a blooper to left, falling for a single and bringing Mewes home to tie things at 1-1. To make things even more intense, the throw home had gotten away from the catcher to let Simone make it all the way to third.
Then Abby Newman came to the plate with one out, looking to find a way to bring home the lead run and give Roby a chance to shut the door in the bottom of the seventh.
“I knew our winning run was on third so I was just thinking base hit,” Newman said. “As long as I could hit the grass we were gonna score. So [I was trying to] just keep fighting, hit a long fly ball or hit something to the grass.”
She might not have gotten a hit, but a sacrifice fly to center got the job done, giving the Lady Panthers a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh.
This clutch hit from Newman would be the difference maker, as Roby didn’t crack in the bottom of the seventh and secured Daviess County’s spot in the next round in the state tournament with the 2-1 win.
Newman came through all game long, leading the team with two hits and then coming up big when it mattered most. Biggs Sr. said that he was confident that if the team could get the lineup back to Newman with less than two outs they had a chance to earn the comeback win.
“I felt good if we could get back to her… ” Biggs Sr. said. “It seemed like throughout the game she was coming up a lot with two outs with the way the lineup was turning over… She got down 0-2 on that last hit, but that’s just Abby. She’s been doing that all year and she’s been doing it her whole career.”
With a week to prepare before its next game, Biggs Sr. said that Daviess County will take time to celebrate over the next few days before refocusing and getting back to work on Monday after a much needed break.
“Coming off an emotional win you kind of need to regroup a little bit,” Biggs Sr. said. “We won district on Friday and then we went right in region on Saturday and then we played a couple games and had a break. So we were able to enjoy region a little bit and just kind of get reenergized. It’s gonna be nice.”
Coming back completely refreshed, Daviess County will wait to see who they will play in the second round on Friday, June 18.
“I told the kids I haven’t even thought about next week yet,” Biggs Sr. said. “What I do know is we’re going to celebrate this win today and we’re going to relax tomorrow and then Monday we’re just going to go back to our normal routine and then go from there.”
