Ladycats win regional title

Ladycats rally to win regional title

By MELISSA BURNSED

Upset was the word repeated over and over by game announcers and sportswriters, as the Baker County Ladycats rallied from a 4 to 1 deficit to beat the Navarre Raiders and win their 

Photo courtesy of the Baker County Ladycats

first ever regional championship Tuesday night. The Baker Ladies victory in the regional bracket of the state 4A tournament moves Coach Cheryl Nunn’s team into the final four, which will be played May 9th and 10th in Plant City.

The visiting Cat squad was propelled to a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh inning when their catcher Ashley Curry belted out a three run homer. The monster shot was Curry’s second of the night and earned her the game MVP award.

The Ladycats were well prepared for the intense game with the Raiders, who were heavily favored to win as returning two time state runners-up. The team had made the 315 mile trip over to Santa Rosa County a day early, to insure they were rested and fresh for the big showdown in front of a hostile crowd. They locked up the victory with timely hitting and a good defensive outing.

The game began as a tight scoreless struggle, with the Ladycats being led by the battery of Curry at catcher and Tiffany Smith on the mound. Smith pitched a solid complete game that included nine strikeouts.

Curry put the game’s first run on the scoreboard in the top of the third, when she launched the ball over the outfield fence much to the delight of the small band of Wildcat faithful that had made the trip over for the game.

The hosting Raiders responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, on a combination of hits and fielding errors. They padded their 2 to 1 lead in the bottom of the sixth with two more runs. Another Cats defensive error and a walk proved costly when the Raiders capitalized with a base clearing triple down the third baseline to make the score 4 to 1.

Baker County has been a comeback team all season and they weren‘t about to give up with out a fight. Krista Smith open the seventh when she reached base on a fielding error, followed a Bridget Williams single. Caitlyn Griffis smacked her own single up the middle to drive in Smith.

Still down 4 to 2, the Cats next two hitters put the bat on the ball but they weren’t able to do any real damage or move the two base runners, as game umpires clicked off two outs.

Down to their last out, the Ladycats were on their feet in the dugout as Curry stepped into the batter’s box. The slightly biased game broadcasters were pleading for the Raiders coaches to walk her. Fans for both teams held their breath as Curry fouled off close pitches and battled her way to a full count.

The drama scale was on full tilt, as the crack of the bat sounded and the softball sailed out of the park. The three RBI homerun gave the Baker Ladies the lead, 5 to 4.

The Raiders picked up two hits in the bottom of the seventh, but those runners were left stranded when Smith threw her ninth and game inning strikeout.