by Phil Aumiller
The Strasburg Indians came to Lyons Tuesday, ranked #1 in the state. In a dramatic extra-inning contest, the Lady Lions upended the Indians in front of an enthusiastic crowd. It was a tough battle from start to finish, but the mood was positive all
the way through. Coach Schuyler kept it light, shouting praise for the hustle of the umpires and trading good-natured ribbing with his coaching counterparts. The girls all seemed comfortable, excited, and happy no matter what the score was. Meanwhile, the momentum of the game shifted several times, causing the dads at the game to bite their fingernails, pace nervously, and worry out loud about the misery they might face if their girls ended up on the losing side.
The Lyons defense established itself early by shutting down the Indians 1-2-3 in the top of the first, and the Lyons offense drew first blood by scoring in the bottom of the first on a Chandler Subbert RBI double. Strasburg battled back in the top of the second with two scores of their own and added two more in the fourth and another in the fifth. Strasburg could have blown the lid off the game in the fifth if it wasn’t for a spectacular double play that ended the inning with minimal damage. With a runner on second, freshman shortstop Dakotah Chartier drifted way deep in the hole to track down a weak fly ball that looked to be destined to drop for a run-scoring single. Making the over-the-shoulder grab and then spinning around to make a perfect throw to second, Chartier doubled off the runner and pumped her team up for a big inning on offense.
Down 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth, Dana Arling and Hayley Theriault reached base on errors by the third and first basemen. Then Sammi Bashor drilled a hard shot up the middle and Madison Myers knocked in Arling with a single to left. Dakotah Chartier came to the plate with three ducks on the pond, and she emptied the pond with a double down the right field line to tie the game. Chartier’s enthusiasm never let up, and she was extra happy when the game went into extra innings because it gave her another chance to bat.
Strasburg took the lead again in the top of the sixth on three hits and an error, but both teams failed to score until Lyons came up in the bottom of the seventh. The Strasburg coach called for a pitching change, bringing in their flamethrower to try to close the game and preserve their 7-5 lead. Madison Myers led off the inning with a hard grounder to the shortstop, which was too hot to handle. The next two batters flew out and struck out, but Maddy Wallace hit a single to right to keep the Lions’ hope alive and bring senior pitcher Rachel Bashor to the plate. As if pitching seven innings was not enough, now the Lions looked to Rachel to come through with her bat. In her previous three plate appearances, Bashor had crushed a line drive single, pasted a line drive to the shortstop for an out, and beaten out an infield hit. Now in the bottom of the seventh, with the game on the line, she pounded a nice little double, clearing the bases and tying the game. Her reward for this feat was the opportunity to pitch two more innings.
Neither team scored in the eighth, but Strasburg led off the ninth with a double to center field. The runner advanced to third on a ground ball out to third baseman Maddy Wallace. Then she scored on a ground ball out to shortstop Dakotah Chartier. Rachel Bashor ended the inning herself by snagging a line drive, and Lyons came to bat in the bottom of the ninth, down 7-8.
Madison Myers and Dakotah Chartier led off with a pair of walks. A couple passed balls allowed the runners to advance to second and third, but the Strasburg hurler blew her heater past the next two batters, striking them both out. Once again, Rachel Bashor came up with two outs and two runners on base. After two strike calls on pitches at the knees, Rachel connected with the next pitch near the end of the bat and drove a soft liner over the third baseman’s head, but it curved foul. Rachel said something like “dang it!” and a huge bright smile shined out through her helmet facemask as she looked at Coach Schuyler for encouragement. Schuyler gave her the “base hit” signal, which was a sign that Rachel apparently didn’t miss. On the next pitch, she found the sweet spot and drove a hard fly ball deep in the gap to left-center. Both runners were moving at the crack of the bat and scored easily while Rachel coasted to second base with her second stand-up double of the game. Coach Schuyler jumped and yelled, as did most of the fans, and the team ran onto the field to mob Rachel and celebrate the 9-8 victory.
R H E
#1 Strasburg 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 0 1 8 14 3
Lyons 1 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 2 9 11 2
Lyons Batting: S. Bashor 5 1 1 0, M. Myers 4 3 1 1, D. Chartier 4 2 2 2 , C. Subbert 5 0 1 1, M. Wallace 5 1 1 0, R. Bashor 5 0 4 4, B. King 4 0 0 0, D. Arling 3 1 1 0, H. Theriault 3 1 0 0.
2B: RBashor 2, DChartier 2, CSubbert
Lyons Pitching: R. Bashor W 9IP 14H 8R 7ER 1K 2BB
Photos by Ed Arling
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