Greencastle's thrills continue in win vs. Trojans
Countless softball games this season have come down for the wire for Greencastle-Antrim.
So when the Blue Devils entered the bottom of the seventh inning of their non-league game Monday tied at five with the one-loss Chambersburg Trojans, they weren't worried a bit.
Morgan Wagaman played hero for Greencastle. She led off the inning with a well-placed bunt and stole second. Wagaman motored to third on a wild pitch, and after an errant throw, she slid into home plate for the game-winner, 6-5. It is the fourth time this season the Blue Devils have won in walk-off fashion.
"Leah (Hunt) overthrew it, so I was able to get to third, then when they threw it to third, (coach Mark DeCarli) was just saying, 'Go, go!'" Wagaman said. "I just started sprinting toward home. It definitely feels good. They're a really good team, and I think we deserved it."
Greencastle (11-4) was out-hit, 10-6, but Chambersburg (15-2) committed four errors and walked five batters, four of whom became especially costly.
"There's no excuses," Trojan coach Chris Skultety said. "You can't give up the leadoff runner six out of seven innings, four of them via walks. We can't get runners on second and third with no outs and not get the run in. That's just what we did all day. We gave the game away."
In the first, second, fourth and fifth innings, the Blue Devils drew walks to start. All four of those free passes ended up as runs scored.
The Trojans had their fair share of opportunities off G-A pitch Liz Ward, too. Although they finished with 10 hits, they had just four through the first four innings, and Chambersburg had a golden opportunity in the top of the seventh.
"(Liz) was throwing outside a lot, but then she started bringing her pitches down when I was batting," Chambersburg second baseman Maggie Myers said. "I like low pitches, so I went after those and got my later hits that way. But those two runners left on, we needed to get those in to keep our lead there."
Tara Harmon led off with a single and moved to second on a passed ball. Laken Myers then drew a walk, and both moved to scoring position on a wild pitch. Two popups and a flyout later, and Chambersburg had nothing to show for it.
"I think Liz kept their players off balance with that changeup, and her drop curve was looking pretty good," DeCarli said. "You're not going to blow too many fastballs by a team like that, so keeping them off balance was key. Liz did what she had to do; she induced a lot of flyballs."
Ward said, "I actually know most of their girls and have played with some of them, so that helped me out a lot. My attitude was the big thing. I tried not to let things get to me, and that really helped me to stay on top of things."