Helping Hand: Lady Devils walk it off against Crisp County

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, October 12, 2022

TIFTON — Tift County needed a little extra time Oct. 11 to secure their 14th win of the season. In the bottom of the 8th inning, Macy Hand and Bailee Williams worked their magic and the Lady Devils walked off a 9-8 contest against Crisp County.

In the week after they secured their spot in the Class 6A state tournament, the Lady Devils have been tying up loose ends, rescheduling games that were previously rained out as part of their preparations for the postseason. By chance, the last three have been against teams who have clinched their region titles: Cairo, Colquitt County and Crisp. Tift has won two of these and Crisp was, by far, the most dramatic.

Both teams had to climb out of holes over the course of the eight innings. Tift was down 2-0 after one inning, down 4-3 after 5. The Lady Cougars scored four runs in the 7th to eliminate the locals’ 8-4 lead.

“They got it done,” said head coach Taylor Barber, whose team won its 14th of the season in its last home game of the year.

Barber said he talked with his team about their response: They could have let it get to them. Instead, Tift came through.

“I think Macy’s been due for something like that,” he said. Hand finished with three hits and drove in four runs for the night.

Crisp had runners on first and second in the top of the 8th inning, but moved no further as Loralee Bennett snared a foul ball near the visiting dugout to scape. That set up Tift and their red hot bats merely needing someone to score. They did not disappoint.

Williams hit a shot down the third base line that hit that bounced high off the bag and into left field, enough for a double. Olivia Bridges struck out the next Tift hitter, but that brought up Hand. Four pitches into the at-bat, she struck a line drive to right field. Williams scored standing, setting off a brief celebration at first base.

Barber wasn’t sure of the last time Tift won a game against the Lady Cougars. A look through the records shows a 7-6 win 2018. Crisp had won the last five between them.

Crisp County entered Tuesday with a 21-4 record, though Barber said they were a bit beaten up over the course of the season. Tift has its pains, too. Barber will end the week with a different pitching schedule that he initially charted. Close games have meant he has not used his bench as much he’s wanted.

Seven batters stepped up to the plate in the 1st frame. Two, Sara Ruth Raines and Blakely Young, scored, both on a base hit by Peyton Patrick. Gracee Wood struck out two batters in the 1st, the second one being a big second out that helped her settle in. She would not run into further trouble until the 5th.

In the meantime, Tift began to put together an offense.

Hand walked to start the 2nd and was immediately doubled in by Delanie Jewell. With one out, Lily Robinson tied the contest with a single up the middle.

One inning later, the Lady Devils took the lead. Williams singled and used her speed on a grounder to short to make the only play be at first. A wild pitch later, Hand had no problems driving her in with a hit to left. Tift loaded the bases later in the frame with one out, but Crisp got a force at home before ending the threat with a strikeout.

The Lady Cougars regained the advantage in the 5th. Reagan Bozeman was nicked by a pitch and Raines walked. Young’s grounder to the circle took care of Bozeman on the fielder’s choice, but two runners remained on.

Bridges tied it up with a single and while Olivia Holliday hit a ball on the infield, it was perfectly placed and all hands were safe. Crisp went on to load the bases, but Robinson, now in as a reliever, got a tapper to herself to end the inning.

Two run explosions came up in the late innings. The first made a runaway for the Lady Devils look possible. The second nearly broke their hearts.

Down 4-3, it took a little luck — and weirdness — to make everything happen.

Ella Bruce reached on an error and took second on a stolen base. She was still there with two outs, all alone on the basepaths. The strangeness began with Williams at the plate. Williams had two quick strikes on her, but began working the count. Six pitches in, she thought she earned a walk and made her way to first. A Crisp coach stepped out to double check and it was shown that it was actually ball 3. Fortunately, it did not matter as the next pitch was outside for ball 4. Williams took her base again.

Wood came through with a game-tying double to center, bringing in Bruce and Williams stopping at third. Hand followed with a two-run double and Tift was now up 6-4.

The comeback almost ended there. Jewell struck out and everyone for Crisp started off the field. Jewell started in that direction, too, but Barber began yelling for Jewell to run. The third strike had been dropped and the ball was live. She made first without a throw.

Angie Martinez smacked double to deep right and the Lady Devils took a 8-4 lead.

Now, they needed three outs to win, but Crisp was not going away.

Bridges started the 7th by getting on base via an error. With one out, Lakayla Alexander walked and another error put Sydney Young aboard, filling the bags. The Lady Devils almost escaped when Jewell caught a fly in center and no runners attempted to move up.

However, the Lady Cougars were back at the top of the order. Bozeman doubled to the centerfield wall, clearing the bases. Raines doubled to deep left and the score was knotted 8-all.

Tift was retired in order in the 7th, their only time all game. The contest headed for extra innings.

Holliday and Alexander singled, but there were already two outs and Robinson only needed to pitches for the pop to Bennett to end the inning.

Both pitchers threw well, Barber said. Of the eight runs scored by the visitors, just three were earned.

“What got us going tonight was the bottom half of the lineup, around the Macy spot (fifth in the order), all the way down.”

Besides Hand’s performance, Williams had three hits. Jewell and Martinez had two each, with Martinez driving in two runs.

Martinez may be wondering if softballs want to be close to her. Already used to being banged up as a catcher, she’s lately become a magnet for the opposition’s pitches. Crisp was the 10th time she’s been hit by a pitch this year and second game in a row. Monday, against Colquitt, Martinez barely avoiding being hit twice more. In both cases, she ducked but the ball made contact with the head of the bat for two unlikely fouls.