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Ally Brown's HR lifts Greencastle over JB, 11-10, in 7th


The simple fact is that James Buchanan couldn't stop Greencastle-Antrim from scoring.

The Rockets' offense did its part, putting up 15 hits and 10 runs, but it wasn't enough to hold off the rival Blue Devils in a Mid Penn Colonial Division softball game Thursday afternoon. G-A prevailed 11-10 when Ally Brown blasted a three-run home run to dead centerfield in the bottom of the seventh inning.

With the Devils (2-2, 1-1 MPC) trailing 10-8, Jess Root hit a one-out double and Morgan Wagaman followed with a single. Then Brown stepped up and launched a high-flying shot over the fence to end the game on a thrilling note.

She might have been one of the few who didn't know it right away.

"It wasn't like it was a no-doubter," Brown said.

But Greencastle coach Mark DeCarli said, "When Ally came up, I envisioned something like this because she's clutch. I saw it jump off the bat and knew it was gone."

JB assistant coach Tim Mongold said, "That last pitch was on me. I didn't want to throw her an inside fastball, but I called for it anyway. And when she got the pitch she wanted, she hit it. I knew it as soon as she hit it."

Brown said, "I always run around the bases with no smile, but then I got to home plate and the girls were all over me, and I was smiling then."

G-A's rally overcame a fine three-run outburst by the Rockets (3-1, 1-1 MPC) in the top of the seventh. A single by Carly Caron, an error, a sac bunt by Cara Bender and a base hit by Brooke Pittman made it 8-8. After an out, Taryn Miller came up and the only sensible play for DeCarli was to walk the slugger intentionally, so he did.

But with the bases loaded and two outs, Jenna Mongold came through was a two-run single on the first pitch to give JB a 10-8 lead. She ended up 5-for-5 with four RBIs.

"I just wanted to put the ball in play, and I knew my team needed a hit there," Mongold said.

Then what they needed was a stop against Greencastle, but Brown made sure that didn't happen.