Shady Spring strikes early, forces win or go home finale

The first Class AA Region 3, Section 1 meeting between Independence and Shady Spring featured a hit parade for the Patriots in an 11-3 win.

Monday night in the rainy and muddy conditions at Larry T. Poe Field, the tables turned in favor of the Tigers.

Exploding for five runs in the top of the first inning, Shady Spring forced a winner take all game with a 9-3 win over Independence.

The sectional championship game was scheduled for Tuesday night, but was postponed by weather related issues.

Shady Spring and Independence will now play Wednesday, weather permitting.

"I just told them that we were playing in the same conditions as they are playing in. It was just who was going to take it and go with it better," Shady Spring head coach Nikki Mays said. "You have to start strong and end strong. You can't let up at any point in time. You have to always be 100 percent every pitch, every play."

Playing the field to start the game, the adverse conditions seemed to force the Patriots into some early struggles.

The Tigers took full advantage.

A hit batter, a walk and an error turned into a 1-0 lead for Shady Spring. When clean-up hitter Jenna Joyce was also beaned, the bases were loaded for Annabelle Sturgill.

Sturgill ripped a deep drive over the center fielder's head for a double that cleared the bases, giving her team a 4-0 lead.

In the Friday loss, Shady Spring managed only three hits. Monday night, the Tigers tallied 12 base knocks, four for extra bases.

"The other night it wasn't (a good approach) and we talked about it. Tonight it was the opposite," Mays said. "We talked about going in to the (batters) box with a different mindset. They did it."

Lacy Osborne's ground ball scored the final run of the inning putting Independence in a deep hole.

"We just didn't get out of that first inning. You take away the five runs in the first inning and it's a 4-3 game," Independence head coach Ken Adkins said. "I don't know how many of them runs we gave them. We gave away a couple of runs in the middle of that. We just have to do a better job of (staying) out of a big inning."

Trailing 7-0, the home team showed some fight with three straight two-out singles. The hits were good enough for three runs, cutting the lead back to 7-3.

Joyce made it 8-3 with a deep drive over the left field fence, but in the bottom of the fifth inning, Independence put together a serious threat.

Shady Spring, however, answered with some stellar defense to keep the Patriots at bay.

After the first two batters reached, Emma Lilly hit a solid drive into right-center which appeared to be going for extra bases. Kenidi Creager made the first web gem with a tough running catch. Creager turn and fired the ball to second base for a critical double play.

"That is a big inning there. That was a rocket and the girl catches it. If it is three inches the other way, that's a huge inning," Adkins said. "In the last game, the bottom (of the order), set up the top. We couldn't do that today. There didn't seem like there was any flow to our game today."

The catch became more impactful when the next batter, Bella Lilly, doubled giving the Patriots two runners in scoring position.

Shortstop Raegan Lane then made the second web gem of the inning to shutdown the Patriots uprising.

Ranging behind third base on a foul ball and closing in on the fence, Lane snagged the pop up for the third out.

"That is why we keep working on doing our jobs out in the field, getting over it if something bad happens, so we can make another play," Mays said.

Shady Spring added a security run, while Joyce remained strong through the less than stellar conditions.

"I put my own kids in the position by choosing to play today. We had a choice to wait and do it tomorrow, but the field was good. I usually regret these (decisions) if bad things happen. It's great if it works out," Adkins said. "Jenna pitched a good game today. She did a better job hitting spots and kept us off-balance with the change up. We put balls in play, but just didn't get good hits. There is not much to say. You just come back tomorrow and play again."

The two teams have played four times, with each team winning twice. Now the final showdown is for all the marbles.

"It is going to be a dogfight to the end," Mays said We juts have to go in with the confidence that we can do it. That

all we can do.

SS: 5 0 2 1 0 1 0 - 9 12 1

I: 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 - 3 5 1

(SS): Raegan Lane 2-4 (2b, rbi), Peyton Raban 1-4, Jenna Joyce 2-2 (HR, rbi), Annabelle Sturgill 1-3 (2b, 3 rbi), Lacy Osborne 2-4 (2 rbi), Alexa Quesenberry 1-3, Brinlee Cales 2-4, Kenidi Creager 1-3 (2b, rbi)

I: Kassidy Bradberry 1-3 (2b), Emma Lilly 1-4 (rbi), Bella Lilly 2-3 (2b), Paytin Brehm 1-3 (rbi)