Worth County took a 6-5 lead in the fourth and then clung by their fingernails for the last three innings to beat Albany Thursday. Afterwards Ashley Reynolds was in tears after the final strikeout. Reynolds, regarded as one of the toughest players on the team, said it was because she felt the Tigers were finally beginning to gell as a team. The game was one of the more perplexing games of the season -- the Tigers made seven errors against the Warriors, yet found a way to win. They made fewer errors against Plattsburg, Stewartsville, and Jefferson, yet lost all three of those games. They allowed five hits to Albany, yet won; they only allowed one lone Stewartsville hit in the last inning, yet lost.
The Tigers made some errors, yet they also made some strong fielding plays in order to kill rallies from the Warriors. In the top of the first, Chantelle Berger walked. Thea Sagun struck out, but Melissa Abreu reached on an error when Tonya Troutwine, covering first on a bunt situation, bobbled the throw. But Erin Teel grounded into a force play at third and then Maisie Yeager was out on a called third strike to end the inning.
In the second, Albany ran their way out of another possible rally when Brooke Smith singled to Amanda Downing in center field, but was thrown out trying for second as Downing let the ball get under her legs, but recovered in time to get the out. Ashley Smith hit a pop fly behind second that was possible trouble in the inning, but Brooke Adams hustled behind second to make the play for the final out of the inning.
Albany finally broke through in the third. McKenzie Pigg singled up the middle and then Bailey McPike threw Berger's bunt in the dirt for an error. Thea Sagun grounded out to move them both up and then Abreu reached on yet another Tiger error as Tonya Troutwine let the ball get under her legs; Abreu then went to second on Troutwine's second error of the play when she threw home when the runs had already scored to make it 2-0, allowing Abreu to go to second. Troutwine, who had made three errors to that point, would redeem herself in the field later on. In the meantime, everyone else had her back as Abreu tried to steal third but was thrown out stealing. Erin Teel walked and Maisie Yeager hit a pop fly single just over Troutwine's head; they both engineered a double steal. But Delaney Davidson got Paige McGinley out on a called third strike to keep the score at 2-0.
Warrior pitcher Katie Thomas retired the first eight Tiger batters, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the third with two outs. Casey Smyser walked and then first baseman Paige McGinley dropped Brooke Adams' bunt, moving Smyser to third. Adams stole second and Brooke Gilland reached on an error when the third baseman threw the grounder away, trying the score at 2-2. Ashley Reynolds then crushed the ball over the right fielder's head for a 250-foot triple to score Gilland to make it 3-2.
Albany regained the lead in the top of the fourth. Brooke Smith walked. Ashley Smith was caught looking, but McKenzie Pigg's single up the middle put runners on first and second with one out. Chantelle Berger's bunt to Bailey McPike was misplayed as McPike threw away an ill-advised throw to third for a two-base error that tied it up at 3-3. Thea Sagun's pop fly single to left scored two more runs to make it 5-3.
Worth County came right back to take the lead. Delaney Davidson singled up the middle and Rebecca Moore ran for her. Albany second baseman Thea Sagun struggled in the field as she dropped a throw from first on a bunt and then failed to cover on another bunt, causing an error by the third baseman. That made it 5-4. It was Casey Smyser at the bat next and once again, Casey did not strike out as she lined one to right field to score Bailey McPike to make it 5-5. Albany nearly got out of the inning with the score tied as Brooke Adams flied out and Brooke Gilland popped out. But Ashley Reynolds hit a pop fly behind first base. First baseman Paige McGinley gave chase to it but dropped it and it rolled away, allowing Troutwine to score to make it 6-5.
Delaney Davidson lost Maisie Yeager to a walk after getting her down 0-2, but the Tiger gloves bailed her out. Paige McGinley popped out to Reynolds at first and then Brooke Smith, trying to bunt her over to second with one out, popped out to Brooke Gilland, whose rocket arm doubled Yeager off first as Tonya Troutwine had hustled over from second to cover first on the bunt situation.
Albany went down in order in the sixth as Delaney Davidson struck out Ashley Smith and McKenzie Pigg and got Chantelle Berger to pop out. But Worth County failed to add to their lead and Albany made one last comeback bid. Thea Sagun hit a pop fly that looked like it might drop between first and second for a base hit, but Tonya Troutwine made a running catch for the first out. But then Melissa Abreu reached on an error as Brooke Adams threw away a grounder. Erin Teel bunted to advance Abreu, but the Warriors were down to their final out. Delaney Davidson got Maisie Yeager down to her last strike, but she threw a wild pitch to move Abreu to third and her 3-2 pitch to Yeager was outside for ball four. Davidson continued to fight the strike zone and uncorked another wild pitch to move Yeager to second, but Brooke Gilland scrambled to snatch the ball in time to prevent Abreu from scoring with the tying run. But on a 2-2 count, Delaney Davidson's ankle high pitch was swung at by Paige McGinley and missed for strike three.
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