Lady Pirates get finale to remember
October 12, 2008
By Josh Clark
jclark@tri-lakestribune.com
For a while Tuesday afternoon it looked as though the Lady Pirates may have to put off their home finale. Scattered showers drenched the Tri-Lakes area all day, and as game time approached, there were still some ominous clouds hanging overhead.
It turned out that things looked bleaker than they actually were as the weather became a metaphor for the home finale. The Lady Liberators got off to a fast start and it seemed like it may be a lopsided game.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the wheels almost came off. The Lady Liberators loaded the bases. Coach Arnold’s team seemed as though they were scared of making a mistake.
With one wild pitch and two throwing errors, Bolivar took a 5-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
After getting the all important third out of the inning, Arnold noticed the team from Bolivar acting as though the game was over.
“They’re laughing at you,” she told her team as they entered the dugout.
The laughter wouldn’t last very long as the Lady Pirates started chipping away. With the score 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth, senior Susan Stevens ripped a home run to left center and cut the lead to two runs.
Stevens’ younger sister Ruby completed the comeback with a two-out, two-run single to tie things at six.
After scoring one run in the top of the sixth, Bolivar seemed poised for a win. That was before Mallory Jansen stepped to the plate.
The Lady Pirates once again clawed their way back to tie the contest, and with two outs, in the final inning of her final home game, Jansen followed the old time advice of “hit it where they ain’t”, and picked up an inside the park home run for an 8-7 win heading into District play. Jansen was mobbed at home plate, and each of these young ladies who gave their all were able to walk off their home field for the last time as winners.
Despite the high emotion, the Lady Pirates were eliminated Thursday in the first round of the tournament. Thanks for the great memories seniors!
Comments
Got something to say?
