XCP News
Walk-off Walk Sends Softball Gators to Tonight's Semifinal
Tuesday's game between the #4 Xavier Gators and the #12 Sandra Day O'Connor Eagles on Petznick Field developed into quite the pitchers' duel.
Both pitchers threw nine strikeouts. No base hits resulted directly in a run being scored.
Top of the 4th Inning
No hits, no runs yet for either team. In the top of 4th, with a baserunner on second, a Sandra Day O'Connor batter hit an infield grounder. As the baserunner on second attempted to go to third, the attempt to her out at third resulted in the ball sailing over third baseman Noe Romo, allowing the baserunner to scamper all the way home to give O'Connor a 1-0 lead.
No hits, no runs yet for either team. In the top of 4th, with a baserunner on second, a Sandra Day O'Connor batter hit an infield grounder. As the baserunner on second attempted to go to third, the attempt to her out at third resulted in the ball sailing over third baseman Noe Romo, allowing the baserunner to scamper all the way home to give O'Connor a 1-0 lead.
Bottom of the 6th Inning
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with O'Connor leading 1-0 and Xavier running out of time, Sariah McNabb steps up to plate with no one on base. She hits a fly ball into right center that makes its way to the base of the fence for a triple.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with O'Connor leading 1-0 and Xavier running out of time, Sariah McNabb steps up to plate with no one on base. She hits a fly ball into right center that makes its way to the base of the fence for a triple.
The next batter, Joie Ramos, hits a shallow fly ball to left, resulting in the left fielder attempting to throw out McNabb heading for home to tie the score. The throw is on time, and the catcher applies the tag as Sariah makes a head-first slide into home plate. But, the ball comes loose and the score is tied at one.
Top of the 7th Inning
O'Connor's fourth batter approaches the plate. Runners occupy the corners. There are NO OUTS. The Eagles are looking to break the tie and force the Gators to make a comeback in the bottom half this final inning.
A passed ball by the catcher entices the O'Connor baserunner on third to make a break for home. It took a nice hustle by Joie Ramos to retrieve the loose ball and send it back to a waiting Sydney Root at the plate for the tag to avert falling behind in the score.
Next, Root gives up a walk to put runners on first and second with two out. It took Root only three pitches to the next batter to dash any hope the Eagles might have had of scoring a go-ahead run before facing the Gator offense in the bottom half of the seventh.
Bottom of the 7th Inning
In the bottom half of the 7th inning, Xavier showed the softball world how to break a tie in the bottom half of the last inning and go home a winner. Don't try this at home, it will most likely never be duplicated.
- Opposing pitcher gets called on an illegal pitch. Baserunner now on first.
- Next batter gets hit by a pitch. Baserunners now on first and second.
- Next batter gets walked on four straight pitches. Bases are loaded.
- Next batter lets the count go full, takes ball four, happily skips over to her teammates to celebrate -- forgetting to go touch first base -- and then hustles to first hoping it's not too late. Xavier wins 2-1.
Semifinals
#4 Xavier plays #3 Pinnacle tonight at 7pm at Mesa High School in the semifinals.
Since Xavier has one loss in the tournament and Pinnacle has none, the Gators must win tonight and tomorrow to earn a trip to their third Championship Game in a row next Monday night. At tough task, but we've done it before.
Last year, Xavier had to beat Queen Creek twice in the semifinals before playing in and winning their second State Title Game in a row.
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© XCP 2024. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy
© XCP 2024. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy