Jordyn Cristopher scoops up the bunt attempt at third base.
Courtesy of Chad Autry
Lady Raiders take 1-0 walk-off win in bottom of 14th inning against Hoggard
The Midway teams are no strangers to extra innings when it comes to baseball and softball. Both teams have already had their fair share of extra innings games this year, and the 10-year anniversary of the infamous 14-inning Eastern Regional Baseball Championship heartbreaker from 2015 is quickly approaching. What better time to have a repeat of that than on Wednesday night? Continuing to mix in a grueling non-conference schedule within their conference games, the Lady Raiders faced off against Hoggard in a midweek showdown in Spivey’s Corner. After a long, hard-fought and scoreless 13.5-inning battle, Midway finally scraped together some last-minute heroics and secured a big 1-0 victory over the Lady Vikings.
The Lady Raiders got off to a shaky start in the first inning after starting pitcher Kyleigh Stonerock hit the first batter. “No sweat,” she said, though, as Stonerock cleaned things up with a pair of strikeouts and flyout to right field to quickly end the inning.
The shakiness also hit Hoggard in the bottom of the inning, as an error allowed Kiley Ives to get aboard as the leadoff. ECU-signee Macey Ciamallo also brushed it off and went on to retire the next trio of batters in consecutive fashion as the first inning went scoreless.
An old-fashioned pitcher’s duel, with high-quality defense sprinkled into the mix, was certainly the top story of this game. A walk in the top of the second was all that was going for the Lady Vikings, while Midway went down in 1-2-3 style in the bottom of the inning.
Things got a little dicey in the top of the third when back-to-back walks put runners at first and second for Hoggard with two outs, but another timely strikeout from Stonerock ended that threat as the scoreless tie pushed onward.
The next couple of at bats again saw three up, three down efforts, but things took a dramatic turn in the bottom of fourth. Mollie Bass got a triple on a line drive that hugged the third base line. With just one out against them, the Lady Raiders had the go-ahead run staring at home plate, the closest either team had gotten all game. Midway couldn’t make anything happen, though, as an infield ground-out and a strikeout prevented the runner from advancing.
Not much happened for either team in the fifth and sixth innings as the game continued to roll on, deadlocked in a dead heat at 0-0.
Things got scary for Midway again in the top of the seventh when Sophie Gee reached on a bunt to lead the inning off. A wild pitch moved her over to second, and now the go-ahead run for the Lady Vikings was in scoring position with no outs. Stonerock was able to strikeout Chloe Gallagher for the first out but gave up a walk to the next batter. In the process, Gee took third base, putting runners at first and third with just one out. Stonerock fanned the next two batters to strand the runners and preserved the tie headed to the bottom of the seventh.
Things looked promising for the Lady Raiders in the bottom of the seventh when Jordan Christopher led the inning off by getting aboard, thanks to an error. Macy Raynor stepped in and laid down a sacrifice bunt, putting Christopher at second base with one out. Both Peyton Herring and Ella Clark flirted with getting the game-winning hits as they each fouled off some close balls down the first and third base lines, but both hitters ended their at-bats with strikeouts, forcing extra innings
This seemingly never-ending battle continued well into extra innings as neither team was showing any signs of yielding. Each team stranded a runner in the eighth, and the ninth wasn’t much different.
There were signs as early as the bottom of the tenth that the Lady Raiders were starting to figure some things out at the plate, as they were beginning to get more hits in play. Unfortunately for them, though, the Lady Vikings’ defense stood tall behind their pitcher, most notably second baseman Ava Cook, who single-handedly shut down a trio of Midway scoring chances in the 11th, 12th, and 13th innings to keep the game going.
Both pitchers that started the game continued to sling the ball on into the 14th inning, neither of them showing any signs of slowing down.
An interesting conversation unfolded between the coaching staffs in the top of the 14th inning, which was later revealed to be a mutual agreement that the game would end in a tie if no one scored in the 14th.
The Lady Raiders were having none of that. After Stonerock and her defense again thwarted Hoggard’s scoring chance in the top of the inning, Midway decided enough was enough. Ella Clark led things off with a triple into right-center, burning the outfielders on a ball hit deep that gave her enough time to reach third. Sam Carter followed up, hitting a one-hopping grounder to shortstop. The throw home was not in time, and just like that, without any outs against them, Clark represented the winning run, and Midway had claimed the 1-0 victory.
The pitching stats for this game were a tale of their own. Stonerock hurled 235 pitches, racking up 28 strikeouts against just two hits. The one flaw in her stat line was 10 walks, but most importantly, there were no runs scored.
Ciamillo threw just 186 pitches and had 15 strikeouts against six hits and three walks.
When asked about the physical and emotional toll a game like this has on a pitcher, Stonerock said, “I feel great.”
“Physically I’m tired but emotionally…I just didn’t want to fall short. 14 innings is a heck of a ballgame, but I know that when we step out there, I’m good, and my defense is even better, and we’re going to do a good job every time.”
Stonerock also offered up a little routine she uses that helps keep calm, or “locked in” as she exclaimed in the dugout. “I pray. I draw a cross in the dirt. I lock in.”
Head coach Susan Clark was also ecstatic about her team’s clutch win.
“I’m so proud of them. We’re going to figure it out at the plate eventually, but this was just a pitcher’s duel. Two really great defenses going at it,” Clark said.
With the win, Midway now moves to 9-2 on the season and 3-0 in conference play. They were left with a home game against Fairmont on Friday before preparing for their conference series with West Bladen next week. Also in the mix next week is a trip to 8-1 Scotland County, another team the Lady Raiders had the advantage of taking to extra innings back at the beginning of the season before eventually falling 1-0.
Stonerock acknowledged that she is excited about that game, hoping that her team can spring the upset. Coach Clark, meanwhile, is already laying out her preliminary game plan.
“Our pitching has got to be on, and our defense has got to be on. If they are, then we’re going to put ourselves in a position to win every time.”
Other statistical leaders for Midway were Carter, with two hits and her game-winning RBI. Clark had one hit and the winning run. Elsewhere, Kara Beth Benton, Bass, and Christopher all had one hit apiece.
Midway will travel to West Bladen on Tuesday, Scotland on Wednesday, and will host West Bladen on Friday.