There were plenty of tears following North Harrison’s heartbreaking 4-2 loss to Canton Friday afternoon, but it turned into a joyous celebration that night as the Shamrocks climbed out of a 2-0 hole to beat Chafee 4-2 on the main field to take third place in the state. The Canton game may well have really been the State Championship game – Canton won handily over Pilot Grove Saturday to win the State Championship 6-1.
The support for the Shamrocks from the community and people in the area was disproportionate to the small population. The three towns that go to North Harrison, Eagleville, Hatfield, and Blythdale, have a combined population of 600. They matched the Canton crowd (population 2,300) and outnumbered the Chafee crowd (population 2,900). One of the players, Ashlynn Gilpatrick, reported getting many texts from players from other teams wishing the team well.
The pep rally Wednesday night was well-attended, with over 200 people and students attending. Mandy Maize, who was North Harrison’s all-state pitcher from the 2003 team that last went to state, wrote a heartfelt letter wishing them well, and four members of that team gave them encouragement, telling them to take it all in and have fun. The mothers of the players put on a skit where they put together a recipe for success and Coach Brandon Craig put it in the oven to cook up a victory for the Shamrocks. About 20 different players from the last 25 years participated with the present players in the tongue twister/huddle break that they have done before games ever since at least 1992. The players watched a motivational video with highlights of their 3-2 win over Platte Valley.
Thursday was the sendoff day for the Shamrocks. The entire student body formed a tunnel and cheered the team on as they made their way to the bus, and well-wishers lined up along the road to I-35 cheering them on. They took a tour of the Killian Sports Complex, home of the Missouri State softball team, met Donovan Nelson, brother of Dava, and got some last-minute practice in.
The first was that Tiger pitcher Olivia Jarvis had the best changeup that they had seen all year, with no way to tip it off. The second was the experience factor – Canton had been to state before in 2014 and 2015, before being knocked out early in 2016; they were used to the setting.
The game against Canton started off inauspiciously for North Harrison as the Tigers jumped off to a 1-0 lead in the first. Brianna Caldwell led off the inning with a single and Katie Gaus grounded out to move her to second. Olivia Jarvis struck out, but Lalen Hugenberg singled to score her.
But then, it looked like North Harrison would take control. As pitcher Payton Craig retired the next 13 Tiger batters, the Shamrocks started to take control. In the third, Kami Gibson singled and Sally Briggs bunted to advance her to second. Carly Rinehart flied out to right to move her to third and Payton Craig tripled her home to tie it up at 1-1.
In the fifth, Canton shortstop Lalen Hugenberg airmailed Mason Cracraft’s grounder. Kami Gibson bunted back to the mound to advance her to second, Sally Briggs grounded out to move her to third, and Carly Rinehart shot a single past third to score her and make it 2-1.
It looked like that would be enough, but then the wind played a factor in the sixth. Caldwell walked and then Katie Gaus hit a high towering fly ball to dead center. The wind was blowing out and center fielder Rainey Fordyce could only watch as the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced over for a two run home run to flip the script in Canton’s favor, putting them up 3-2. Had the wind been blowing in, like it was on the main field, then it would have been a long out to Fordyce, who had played errorless ball in center all year.
Ashlynn Gilpatrick finally turned on one of Jarvis’ changes and singled with one out. But North Harrison could not do anything with it as Audrey Briggs grounded out, as did Emma Craig.
It looked like North Harrison would fall apart in the seventh after Abbey Hultz stretched a single into a double to start the inning. Tegan Burbridge bunted and third baseman Ashlynn Gilpatrick’s throw got past second baseman Mason Cracraft, covering first, as Burbridge reached second and Hultz scored. Riley Marshall hunted to move Burbridge over to third with one out, but then Gilpatrick made an outstanding play to prevent any further bleeding as she fielded Caldwell’s grounder and tagged out Burbridge.
Kami Gibson turned on a 1-2 change and reached on an error as Hugenberg’s throw was wild, putting her on first. But then Sally Briggs struck out. Gibson went to second on a wild pitch but then Carly Rinehart got down in the count 0-2. Trying to make something happen, Gibson took off for third and was out stealing to end the game.
There was still softball to be played, and the two teams took two totally different approaches. Chafee went to one of the side fields to take fielding practice during the Class 4 third place game, and then took even more reps on the main field after the game was over and they were getting the infield ready for the Class 1 game. North Harrison’s players, on the other hand, watched the whole game between Staley and Francis Howell, posed for pictures in front of the dugout, and sought to take everything in. The latter approach worked as the Shamrocks never lost their composure after being down early and fought back to win.
It looked like Chafee, with a misleading record of 18-12, would blow North Harrison right out of the field at first. Like Canton, Chafee had been to state before in 2015 and was used to the setting. Most of their losses came against Class 2 and 3 powerhouses; however, against Class 1 competition, they had thrived thanks to their bats.
For the first time all year, the other team was teeing off on Payton Craig, who would get batters down in the count only for them to crush one. It would have been worse in the first had not Ashlynn Gilpatrick raced in on the first batter, slap hitter Bridgette Swinford, and caught her pop fly right in front of the plate before it dropped in. As it turned out, that play might have saved the game. The rest of the Red Devils started timing and crushing it as Bailey Wiseman shot a single between first and second, Sydney Walker hit a screamer that right fielder Carly Rinehart lost in the wind and lights for a double, putting runners on second and third. Carlie Milz walked, bringing in Madeline Hendrix, who shot a single through to center to score two. She went to second on a wild pitch.
But all of a sudden, Payton Craig settled down and pitched some of her finest ball all year, shutting down the Red Devils the rest of the way. She froze Kylie Wilhite on strikes and then Shana Burden grounded out to Kami Gibson at first.
It didn’t look like it would do any good at first as only one Shamrock reached safely in the first three innings. Payton Craig’s first drive, in the first, went to the deepest part of the park and Bridgette Swinford hauled it in right in front of the 220 sign. The ball would have left the yard, even with the wind, had the game been played on the smaller field where the semifinal game was played. Then, Craig hit one even better into the right center field gap. It was slicing away from Swinford, but once again, she was there to make the catch.
It looked like North Harrison’s hopes were facing when Chafee began teeing off on Craig again in the fourth as Madeline Hendrix and Kylie Willhite singled off back to back hits. But then Craig reached back again and struck out the next three batters to get out of the inning. It was similar to the King City game early in the year when North Harrison had their backs to the wall, trailed 1-0, but then had catcher Emma Craig throw out a Wildkat runner stealing from her knees as they were trying to add to their lead.
Finally, North Harrison broke through in the fourth as Brandi Rivet shot a single past left to lead off. Ashlynn Gilpatrick hit a screamer past Brittany Wood in right for a single. Wood tried to throw out Rivet at third, but threw it away as Rivet scored and Gilpatrick went to third. Audry Briggs hit another screamer that the wind wreaked havoc with, and Gilpatrick scored to tie it up. Emma Craig hit a pop fly to center that dropped in for a base hit as Briggs went to third. Craig stole second and then Mason Cracraft hit a grounder to second deep enough to score Briggs to put North Harrison in front 3-2 as Craig took third.
Sensing the game slipping away, Chafee brought their third baseman in as though to guard against a bunt from Kami Gibson, pitched out, and cut their shortstop in behind Emma Craig for a pickoff play. Craig barely made it back safely, and a rhubarb ensued as first the Chafee coach, and then the assistant did the Umpire Two-Step in a futile effort to get the call reversed. Nobody was tossed, but the umpires had made the call and were not changing their mind on a judgment call. That turned out to be critical as Gibson grounded out to score Craig to make it 4-2. Coach Brandon Craig had been looking for his team to put together a big inning all throughout postseason, and finally got one when they needed it.
North Harrison ran into two jams down the stretch, but held on for the victory. In the sixth, Ashlynn Gilpatrick airmailed Carlie Milz’s grounder to put her on second with nobody out. There was a heartstopping moment as Madeline Hendrix hit a screamer that looked like it was headed for extra bases into the right-center field gap. But as the ball sliced away, it miraculously dropped right into right fielder Carly Rinehart’s glove. Rinehart threw to second to double off Milz, who was all the way to third, thinking the ball would drop. The ball squirted past Brandi Rivet at second, but Ashlynn Gilpatrick backed up the play and her throw was in time for the double play. All year, Gilpatrick had been there to make the big play for North Harrison anytime they needed one.
There was another heartstopping moment in the seventh as Shana Burden hit a towering fly ball to center field to start the inning. Rainey Fordyce, who had played errorless ball all year, bobbled the catch momentarily but held on for the out before Craig struck out Hallie Bollinger and got Kaya Carroll to ground out back to the mound to end the came.
Coach Brandon Craig choked up as he talked about being able to see his daughters do so well. “We’ve worked for this a long time. I can’t say enough about our seniors and how much they wanted this. Hopefully, our younger players will understand what it takes to keep us going,” he said.
The Shamrocks had won the respect of everyone in the building, including the Chafee players and coaches, who came and shook their hands a second time after all the trophies and medals were awarded.
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