North Nodaway took a wild 9-8 win over Worth County Thursday night in the Tigers’ home opener. At first it looked like it would be an early exit for Worth County as they fell behind 5-0. Then, they came back and took an 8-6 lead after five. But just as they looked like they had it won, North Nodaway scored three in the seventh to win it.
It was Worth County’s second straight last-inning loss; they had lost 7-6 to Gallatin in Albany the Saturday before. It was also their third straight last-inning loss to North Nodaway; they fell to the Mustangs twice in the last inning last year.
For North Nodaway, it looked like it would follow the script of the North Andrew district loss from last year. Everything started off so well for the Mustangs, only for the Cardinals to erase an early lead and win an epic 12 inning battle.
It looked like the Mustangs would go quietly in the first inning as Shai Dailey struck out and Kandace Damgar popped out. But then Makayla Cross shot a single over Merrideth Spiers’ glove at third and Emma Hart hit a screamer over Anna Spainhower’s glove in right to score Cross. Keagan O’Riley singled home Hart and then Ashley Thompson hit a drive to deep left center field into the wind. Despite the wind blowing in from the east, the ball kept carrying until it was over the fence out of Anna Gladstone’s reach to make it 4-0.
The Mustangs added to their lead in the second. Alonna Cross reached on second baseman Abbi Caddenhead’s legs with one out. Shai Dailey shot a single over Anna Spainhower’s head to put runners on first and third, and then Kandace Damgar grounded out to score Cross to make it 5-0. It would have been worse, but MaKayla Cross hit a screamer right at shortstop Jill Hardy, who made the catch for the third out.
Jill Hardy singled to right in the second, but Haley Hunt hit a screamer, but right at second baseman Shai Dailey, who doubled Hardy off first.
It looked like that would be enough for North Nodaway, as Keagan O’Riley struck out the side in the third to get up to six strikeouts at that point. But all of a sudden, the Tigers teed off on her in the fourth. First, Braidy Hunt hit a screamer down the right field line for a triple. Anna Gladstone hit a pop fly behind the mound that dropped in for a base hit, but North Nodaway got an out on the play when Braidy Hunt broke for home when the ball dropped and she was thrown out at the plate. Merrideth Spiers doubled over right fielder Alonna Cross’ head to score Gladstone to put Worth County on the board and Jill Hardy doubled to the right field wall to make it 5-2. Haley Hunt grounded out to advance Hardy to third, and then Hardy came home on a wild pitch to make it 5-2. Allison Larison nearly did some more damage as she hit a pop fly behind second. But second baseman Shai Dailey came on the dead run to catch it on the third base side of second to end the inning.
North Nodaway got an insurance run in the fifth when Emma Hart walked, Keagan O’Riley singled, and Ashley Thompson walked. Kristin Herndon hit a pop fly down the right field line dropped by Anna Spainhower to make it 6-3.
But it didn’t look like it would matter as Worth County continued to tee off on O’Riley. Anna Spainhower singled to center, as did Megan Cassavaugh. Braidy Hunt loaded the bases with a four pitch walk. Anna Gladstone grounded into a forceout at home to temporarily quell the rally. But then Merrideth Spiers grounded to Kandace Damgar at short; she bobbled it, tried to force Anna Gladstone at second, but the defending state 100 Hurdle champ was too quick for that, and everyone was safe to make it 6-4. Jill Hardy then cleared the bases with a screamer into the right field corner for a triple to put Worth County ahead 7-6. Haley Hunt hit a shot off second baseman Shai Dailey’s glove into right for a base hit to make it 8-6 and Kennedy Galanakis shot one past short to put runners on first and second. It looked like Worth County would keep timing it and crushing it, but all of a sudden, Allison Larison hit a screamer to Keagan O’Riley, who doubled off Galanakis to keep North Nodaway in the game.
North Nodaway couldn’t score in the sixth despite Kandace Damgar shooting the first pitch up the middle for a base hit. MaKayla Cross hit a grounder to Jill Hardy at short. She threw to second to Allison Larison for the force; she tripped, spun around, and fell down, but held onto the ball for the out. Cross went to second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on Emma Hart’s grounder, but Keagan O’Riley, after a 9-pitch at bat in which she hit three foul balls hard, grounded out to Haley Hunt on the mound and North Nodaway came up empty-handed.
Worth County made some noise in the sixth, but couldn’t score. Anna Spainhower hit a foul pop behind the plate; catcher MaKayla Cross got turned around, but made the catch. Megan Cassavaugh hit a hard shot, but right at Shai Dailey at second for the second out. Braidy Hunt hit a screamer off the wall in left center, but centerfielder Audrey Trimble made a great play to keep her at first with a single. Anna Gladstone hit a grounder in the hole at short and would have beaten it out anyway, but shortstop Kandace Damgar’s throw got away, putting Braidy Hunt on third. With third baseman Kristin Herndon holding the ball, Gladstone made a daredevil play when she took off for second and made it safely without a throw. But it all went for nought as Merrideth Spiers struck out as O’Riley struck out her first batter since the third inning to keep the game at 8-6.
Just like the Gallatin game, North Nodaway teed off in the seventh to erase Worth County’s lead. Ashley Thompson singled to center. Kristin Herndon came up; she had struggled at the plate for much of last year. But all of a sudden, she hit a screamer off the wall in right for a double to open the floodgates. The bottom of the order had struggled in the Maryville loss, but came through Thursday night. Audrey Trimble hit a hard shot to right to bring in Thompson; right fielder Anna Spainhower threw home to keep Herndon at third as Trimble took second. Alonna Cross hit it hard; Worth County had no chance to get Herndon at home, and Allison Larison threw to first for the first out. The top of the order came up and Shai Dailey hit what looked like a base hit, but shortstop Jill Hardy made an over the shoulder catch to preserve the tie at 8. But then a return throw got away from pitcher Haley Hunt, and Worth County didn’t have a chance to catch the speedy Audrey Trimble at the plate as North Nodaway took the lead again at 9-8.
The way Worth County had been swinging the bat this season, anything was still possible, but after Jill Hardy struck out, Haley Hunt hit a screamer, but right at Shai Dailey at second – for the second time in the game. Kennedy Galanakis hit a pop fly behind second that looked like it would drop in, but shortstop Kandace Damgar made a diving catch behind second for the final out.
No comments:
Post a Comment