Like Bieber or The Beatles, the hits just kept on coming. The Perryville softball team overcame an early four-run deficit by scoring 10 unanswered runs including an eight-run uprising in the fifth en route to an 11-5 triumph over visiting Bohemia Manor in a region semifinal game Wednesday afternoon. Trailing 5-3 in the fifth, the eight-run eruption began innocently enough when Lydia Hill coaxed a walk. Carly White singled to right and the Eagles misplayed Kaitlyn Griffin's bunt to load the bases. Mara Little then delivered a two-run double to right-center to tie the game.
The potential go-ahead run was thrown out at the plate after a pitch got past the catcher. But on the net pitch, the ball eluded the catcher again, and Little scored to give Perryville a 6-5 edge. The bases did not remain empty for long. Nicole DiGiambattista walked, Emily Phillips reached on an infield hit, and Jordyn Reese was safe when a Bo Manor outfielder dropped her fly ball. Then Amber Keene belted a three-run double to left-center to up the lead to 9-5. "I was really concerned," Keene said. "My other at bats were kind of lackluster. My focus was just to put hard contact on the ball and I wanted to put the ball in play, and do something for the team." The next batter, Ashley Meekins, hit one even farther. Meekins clobbered a two-run homer to left-center. Just like that, a two-run deficit became a six-run cushion. "You can never expect an inning like we had," Perryville coach Dave Ruark said. "They just hit the ball really hard. Sometimes, that's all it takes, just a couple big hits, a couple big breaks." That was more than enough for Phillips, who came on to start the third in relief of the starter Little, who had allowed just four earned runs all season coming into the contest. Phillips yielded one run in five innings and recorded three strikeouts to notch the win. "[Bo Manor] had 2-3-4 [hitters] coming up [in the third]," said Ruark. "At that point, I wanted to throw in Emily to make sure those girls don't get comfortable, give them a different look. Try something. It was as much a decision to change it up and Mara not really being on top of her game like she usually is. But that girl (Little) is going to pitch a lot of fantastic ball for us for the next three years. I will not hesitate to [use] her again. I think this was a really big learning experience for her. But Em just came in, she kept them down, and gave us a shot. That's all you can ask." Three of Bo Manor's four losses came at the hands of Perryville, the first two by lopsided margins. This time, the Eagles served notice that this game would be different. The visitors scored four runs in the top of the first. Anna Tidaback ripped a run-scoring triple to left-center. With two outs, Rachel Jones had an RBI single off the glove of the shortstop. Then Melinda Morgan blasted an RBI triple to right-center and scored on an overthrow at third. "It's Bo Manor," Ruark said. "I always expect their best. They're as quality a team as we've seen. They brought a ton of energy. They were loud. They wanted it as much as any team could want it. All we could do really is just match their intensity and hope to outplay them, because it's hard to be any more intense than that team was. We needed to be pushed like that. And I think that's a huge eye-opener going forward, to kind of get punched in the mouth early in the game. You just have to pick. Get a run here, two innings [there]. A big inning has been our M.O. a lot this year. So I'm just glad we came through with some really big hits." Keene led off the home half of the first with a single. After a strikeout, Hill bounced a single to right and White plated Keene with a single to left. Bohemia Manor tacked on a run off Phillips in the third. when pitcher Taylor Abshagen lined a single through the hole to plate Zoe Lockwood. Perryville tallied twice in the bottom of the third. After an out, Hill was safe on an infield hit and moved to second on a throwing error on the play. The senior first baseman scored on a White double to right-center. With two outs, Little singled to plate courtesy runner Brooke Reynolds to cut the Panthers' deficit down to 5-3. That's the way it stayed until the decisive fifth-inning eruption. "I was a little worried," Keene conceded. "We were getting hits but they were kind of sporadic. And then we just finally piled them together in one inning." Perryville (19-0) will host the region title game Friday at 4 against the winner of Thursday's game between McDonough and Surrattsville. The Panthers will be seeking their seventh region title and are three wins away from the school's first softball state title. Comments are closed.
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