Bridgette Flaherty had a job to do.
With pinch runner Jenna Ertel on second base with no outs and Etowah trailing county and Region 5AAAAA rival Woodstock by a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, Lady Eagles head coach Tonya Sebring called for the sacrifice bunt to move Ertel to third.
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Brandon Michea | Ledger-News
Etowah freshman Bridgette Flaherty (11) slides safely into second base, ahead of a tag attempt by Woodstock sophomore shortstop Alex Wisted. In her third start since being called up from the junior varsity squad, Flaherty went 3-for-3, including a game-tying RBI double in the bottom of the eighth. She then went on to score the winning run on a bases-loaded single by senior Amy Billson, as the Lady Eagles rallied past their crossroad rival, 2-1, Aug. 31 at Etowah.
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Some things, however, do not always work out as planned, as two pitches later, Flaherty found herself in an 0-2 hole and being told to swing away. Fortunately on this night for the Lady Eagles, that proved to be the better option.
Taking the two-strike offering from Lady Wolverines’ hurler Maddie Dotson, the freshman right fielder, who was recently called up from the junior varsity squad, ripped a double that one-hopped the fence in dead center field and plated Ertel to tie the contest at 1-all. Then, two batters later, Flaherty came in to score on a bases loaded single by senior Amy Billson, giving the Lady Eagles a 2-1, walk-off victory, Aug. 31 in Woodstock.
“We brought her up about a week and a half ago because we had an open spot on varsity for whoever was going hard, and she earned it,” Sebring said of Flaherty. “She’s been going hard and has had a pretty good swing in practice, but, to be honest, I put her in the line-up for her defense because she’s been getting good reads on the ball in the outfield.
“But she was seeing the ball really well at the plate today.”
“As a freshman, when I’m in the outfield I’m just trying to keep my head in the game, not make any errors and back up every play I can, and at the plate I just try to hit smart pitches,” Flaherty said. “That last pitch looked like a screwball that missed and it came a little inside, and I was able to rip it.”
Highlighted by her heroic hit, Flaherty finished the night 3-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Billson collected the only other base-knock for sixth-ranked Etowah (7-3) with her game-winning RBI single through the left side of the infield, and sophomore right-hander Chelsi Palazzo notched her first varsity win after tossing 2.2 innings of no-hit, scoreless relief.
Dotson took the tough-luck loss, surrendering one earned run on four hits, one walk and seven strikeouts in seven-plus innings of work and watching the Woodstock offense strand 11 base runners.
“We definitely feel fortunate because we didn’t have our best today,” Sebring said. “Woodstock came out ready to play, and I thought Dotson threw well, located her pitches nicely and kept us off-balance. Our hitters did not make the adjustments they needed to until late in the game, and then we got the timely hits and just came out on top of it.
“But this game could have gone either way.”
Both Dotson and Lady Eagles’ starter Lilly Kosicki (5.1 innings, 2 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks) were untouchable through the first two innings, before Woodstock threatened in the top of the third.
After reaching on a one-out error, Katie Gable advanced to second on a sac bunt by Elizabeth Hamilton and to third on a two-out single to left by Lauren Pehrson, who took second on a throw home. On the next batter, however, Kosicki coaxed a ground ball back to the rubber and threw on to first for the final out.
The Lady Wolverines (4-9, 0-3 region) went on to load the bases with two outs in the fourth and put two runners on with one out in the sixth, and came away with nothing; but that was not the case when the game went into an extra frame.
With Taylor Allen starting on second base as the international tiebreaker runner, Dotson laid down a one-out sac bunt that was fielded by Lady Eagles’ catcher Torrie Garner. Garner’s throw to first, however, sailed a little high and went down the right-field line, allowing Allen to score and Dotson to take second. Palazzo then walked the next batter, but recorded the final two outs to limit the damage to just the one run.
Flaherty quickly got things going for the Lady Eagles (7-2, 4-0) in the bottom of the eighth with her RBI double, and Allie Brown reached on a sac bunt attempt when Woodstock tried to throw Flaherty out at third. Brown then moved to second before the play was over and fellow sophomore Kaitlyn Hughes drew a walk to set the table for Billson’s game-winner.
Despite the loss, Woodstock coach Kortney Dempsey said her Lady Wolverines had no reason to hang their heads.
“I am very pleased with the girls,” she said. “They came out here and did everything I asked them to do. We obviously didn’t score the runners we needed to, but this was a growing experience and these kids are getting better everyday.”
As for the performance of her senior ace, Dempsey was proud.
“Maddie and I had a little heart-to-heart over the last couple of games and I told her ‘it’s now or never and time for her to step up,’ and mentally she did that tonight. Her pitches have always been there, and if we can just keep her on the mental road, she’ll be more successful as the year goes on.”
Etowah went on to drop a non-region affair to Harrison on Sept. 1, before improving to 4-0 in 5AAAAA with a 3-0 victory over Marietta on Sept. 2.
Kosicki went the distance in the win, allowing no runs on three hits, no walks and seven strikeouts, while sophomore Sharlene Strother went 2-for-3 with two RBI and Brown drove in a run.
This week, Etowah hosts county-rival Sequoyah tonight at 7:15, and returns to region play on Thursday with a visit from Walton (6:30 p.m.). The Lady Eagles will then hit the road for Cherokee on Sept. 14 (5:55 p.m.)
Woodstock, which suffered a loss to Kennesaw Mountain on Sept. 1 while playing its 11th game in nine days, travels to Lassiter on Thursday (5:55 p.m.) for a region battle, before participating in the Cherokee County Invitational Friday and Saturday at J.J. Biello Park in Woodstock.
