History making Pats prepare for World Series

MARSHALL – The Patriots softball team is going to the World Series for the first time ever, but it did not come easy.

After winning all four games this weekend by one run (three of those in extra innings) at the NCAA Div. III West Regional Tournament, the Patriots finally celebrated on the field and accomplished team goal number two out of three.

The first goal: A conference championship. Goal two: The regional championship. Goal three: the national championship.

Patriots' Brittanni Hanna hit a bunt to get on base during the eighth inning of the NCAA West Regional Championship game against Linfield. The Patriots won 5-4. Photo by Christy Grant

With the first two steps out of the way, the Patriots begin their trek toward goal three on Friday in Montclair, N.J. in the NCAA Div. III Softball World Series.

Not only is this the first World Series appearance for the Patriots, it comes in only the second season of postseason eligibility for the program.

“To have this much success this early in the history of the program is unbelievable. To be in the World Series this early on in the program history is a credit to the great staff around me all the way from Dr. Rod Mabry down to even the fans,” Patriots coach Mike Reed said. “It means so much to me and the girls the support we have behind this team. We are obviously excited to be going to New Jersey but we also know we are going to compete with the underdog mentality and represent our University and the conference.”

The Patriots are the second team from the American Southwest Conference to make the World Series with Louisiana College making it in 2008.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

Even though there was no regional tournament most valuable player award, the Patriots M.V.P. arguably was Stacy Shepherd.

The sophomore pitcher threw 28 1/3 innings of the total 33 over a four-game spread and single-handily carried her team on her back, coach Mike Reed said.

On Sunday, she went 7 2/3 innings, giving up four runs but her team scored five for her in the 5-4 clinching victory that gave the Patriots the West Regional Championship.

In the bottom of the first inning, Linfield jumped on Shepherd early when Alex Hartmann doubled to left-center to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Immediately, the Patriots responded in the top of the second inning thanks to an error and a bad pitch by Linfield starter Brittany Miller.

To get things started, Ashley Klores hit a blooper to short right field where Hartmann had the ball in her glove but dropped it, allowing Klores to reach on the error. On the play, Hartmann was injured and eventually had to come out of the game with a concussion.

After Klores reached, senior Kate Bell stepped up and made what Reed argues as one of the most important plays of the game.

Bell hit a two-run home run to left field to tie the game at 2-2, restoring the Patriots’ momentum.

“We knew early on that Linfield had to get the momentum and they did,” Reed said. “Then Kate hits that big home run in the second and all of a sudden we were back in the game.”

Bell said in that at-bat she was looking to get a base-hit but Miller made a bad pitch and she took advantage of it.

“It was huge,” Shepherd said of Bell’s home run. “It felt like a million pounds had been lifted off my shoulders.”

From that point on, both pitchers calmed down and did not give up another run until the eighth inning.

In between the second and eighth innings, there were chances for both teams to get runs across.

In the bottom of the fifth, Linfield got a single and then Shepherd walked the next hitter to put runners on first and second base with one out.

The very next batter, Shepherd went up 2-0 in the count and looked like she was about to walk a second consecutive batter. The next pitch was on the outside corner for a strike and after that, Shepherd managed to get the last two outs and out of the inning.

“That strike got me motivated and back into the inning because I was starting to fade off,” Shepherd said.

‘CRUCIAL PLAY’

The next big threat came in the bottom of the seventh when Linfield looked like it had its best chance to score the game-winning run and force a winner-takes-all game since the Patriots entered the game with no losses.

With the bases loaded and no outs, Linfield center fielder Jaydee Baxter stepped up to the plate with the game tied at 2-2 and the winning run on third. Any hit past the infield would have scored the game-wining run.

Instead, Baxter hits a grounder back to the Shepherd who throws it immediately to home plate for the first out and Klores throws it down to first base for the rare 1-2-3 double play.

“That was a crucial play. The momentum went our way after that,” Reed said. “There is just something magical about Stacy and the way she gets out of jams and that is why I left her in the game.”

After an intentional walk to re-load the bases, this time with two outs, Shepherd forced Emilee Lepp to hit a fly ball to Julie Smith in center field to once again get out of another jam.

“We had control of the game there in the seventh with two of our better hitters coming up and then the double play obviously changed the entire momentum of the game,” Linfield coach Jackson Vaughan said. “Unfortunately this happens, but we had an amazing run and it’s sad that it has to end this way.” After getting out of that jam, the Patriots used the momentum to get two runners on base for Whitney Wyly, who was 1-for-13 in the tournament. On the first pitch from Miller to Wyly, she turned on the ball like she did 16 other times this season and hit the go-ahead three-run home run, giving the Patriots the 5-2 lead. “Before that at-bat, I told Whitney that I needed to know if she was in the right frame of mind, otherwise I would not let her hit,” Reed said. “After she hit that homerun, she said ‘How is that for a frame of mind?’”

Linfield then responded in the bottom of the eighth when Natalie Taylor hit a two-run home run with two outs to cut the deficit to 5-4.

“I knew I was going to be the last out or get a hit to extend the game and she gave me a good pitch and I hit it out,” Taylor said.

After the home run, Reed decided to take Shepherd out of the game after throwing 108 pitches and bring in Kelsey Ainsworth to get the last out.

“I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t finish the game but I had full confidence that Ainsworth could close it out,” Shepherd said.

That she did as Ainsworth forced Kayla Hubrich into a groundout to the second baseman, sending the entire Patriots bench to the field in celebration.

“Those Linfield girls never give up. They are just like us in that they fight tooth-and-nail to the very end,” Bell said. “Even though we gave up that two-run home run in the eighth, I knew with Ainsworth coming in with two outs that there was no way they were going to score another run.”

Ainsworth finished the game with her first career save while Shepherd improved to 10-0 on the season.

The team plays again at 10 a.m., Friday on the campus of Montclair State University when it faces Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) in the first game of the World Series.

By Jeremy Cotham Sports Editor