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14 and 0-My: Seventh-inning comeback gives Plano perfect district record
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@acnpapers.com
If there were to ever be a nuclear winter, it is widely assumed that cockroaches would survive the devastation.
After Thursday night’s game against Plano West, the Plano Senior softball team should probably be added to that list.
The Lady Wildcats scored four runs over the final two innings to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 victory over the Lady Wolves (5-9); a win that completed another comeback and a 14-0 run through District 8-5A.
That did, however, appear to be a very real possibility as West led, 3-2, through six.
But Plano got to work quickly in its final at-bat as junior Kristen Miles led off with a single and advanced to third following a stolen base and wild pitch. That was a theme on the night for West, which had four walks, four errors, two wild pitches and two passed balls.
“If you give Plano any kind of opening like that, they are going to attack,” said Mike Ledsome, West head coach. “With the passed balls, stolen bases or whatever else, they kept getting in scoring position and then did a great job hitting in that last inning.”
Plano junior Erin Lowell tied the game with an RBI single and then scored the go-ahead run following a 2-RBI hit from Kat Batey. The junior’s double scored Lowell and junior Jill Holub, who also reached with a double, to make it 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
That would be the final score too as West brought the winning run to the plate with two on and two outs in the bottom of the seventh before Batey, who went the distance and won her 27th game in the circle, induced a grounder to third base to end the game.
That out concluded Plano’s perfect district season.
“We wanted to finish 14-0 so bad,” Miles said before Batey added on, “so bad.”
But the Lady Wildcats were quick to point out the win wasn’t easy.
“West has always been our main rival and they are always great competition,” Miles said. “There were a couple times tonight when I felt like I was about to have a heart attack.”
Plano senior Taylor Jensen was quick to agree.
“It seems like we always get the best from West whenever we play them,” she said.
West’s best gave the team a 3-1 lead late in the game.
Plano scored in the top of the first and West evened it up in the bottom of the second before tacking on two more runs in the fifth. Freshman Katie Vick got the surge going with a lead-off single before a sacrifice bunt and single from freshman Kelsey Vining put Lady Wolves on at second and third base. Vick scored on a bunt single from senior Claire Roeschke, one of her three hits on the night, and Vining scored on a Plano throwing error to make it 3-1.
West nearly tacked on another run in the sixth, but Miles chased down a ball in center field, saw the ball pop out of her glove and snagged it with her bare hand to end the frame.
“That was a game-changing catch right there,” Ledsome said. “If she doesn’t get that, we get a fourth run and then who knows.”
Though Plano got a run back in the sixth after a West error and two walks, the Lady Wolves remained in front until the seventh thanks in large part to Brown, who only allowed hits in the first and last inning.
“Victoria settled down after that first inning,” Ledsome said, “and did a great job.”
Plano would get to Brown in the seventh to pick up the 5-3 win. That triumph also put the Lady Wildcats at the 30-victory mark for the first time.
On the other side of the diamond, West finished sixth in 8-5A and will miss the postseason for the first time since 2003.
“It was kind of hard going into this last game knowing we didn’t have a shot at making the playoffs,” Ledsome said. “But this was kind of like our playoff game. And these girls gave it all they had for their teammates and for the seniors; they went down fighting.”
The fight will continue for Plano when it opens the playoffs against Keller Central.
“We have a cookie cake on our bus right now,” Zea said. “We are going to celebrate and eat the cookie cake on the bus. But once we get off that bus, we will begin preparing for Keller Central.”
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