Lady Gladiators have the upper mitt on the rest of their district challengers
Lady Gladiator infielders Katie Byers, Bailey Eubank, Madison Washington and Paige Westbrook break the huddle and disperse to their positions during a district win over the Frost Lady Polar Bears. (Barry Byers)
Frost — Good Friday turned out to be an awesome Friday for the Lady Gladiators Softball team who rallied at the end to win a close one over the Frost Lady Polar Bears. Italy led 2-0 before a determined Frost bunch managed to take a 5-3 lead going into the top of the seventh-inning. Timely hits by Jaclynn Lewis, Kelsey Nelson and Tara Wallis helped regain the edge for Italy with Frost having a final at bat to extend or possibly win the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, Italy relied on Lewis to get a much needed third strike pitch for the final out which sealed yet another dramatic victory for the Lady Gladiators. Coming off a similar feat in their previous outing against Itasca on Tuesday, Italy won both contests 6-5 and have all but wrapped up the district championship.
The Lady Gladiators are now 5 games away from winning the district outright and are easily favored over their remaining opponents. Against Frost, Lewis was a pillar of strength on the mound, especially with the game on the line. Both teams made big plays throughout but catcher Alyssa Richards provided a clutch highlight when she dove down the third base line to snag a pop fly that was sure to land foul.
Joining Richards in the defensive clutch play category are Wallis, who made a forward diving effort to catch a pop-up into left field, Kelsey Nelson who caught a pop-up in centerfield that resulted in a Frost runner being thrown out at third base with Paige Westbrook making the tag, Lewis who tossed a hard-to-handle grounder at the last second to first baseman Katie Byers for an out and second baseman Bailey Eubank making a relaxed throw in a tension filled contest to Byers at first for another out.
Italy had a number of big plays offensively as well, including a sliding steal by Madison Washington avoiding the tag to reach second base, 2 singles and a walk from Westbrook, a single/double by Kelsey Nelson to begin Italy’s comeback rally, a 1 out bases loaded sacrifice fly ball by Byers that blew foul in right field and was mistakingly caught by Frost allowing Richards to score from third to tie the game 5-5 followed by a Wallis slapper that proved to be the game winner by scoring K’Breona Davis from third to give Italy a 6-5 advantage going into the top of the seventh.
It was the second game in a row that Italy had to rally from behind to win 6-5 which left many Lady Gladiator fans holding on to their chests afterwards from enduring back-to-back nerve-racking nail-biters.
Head coach Wayne Rowe complimented his players on getting the job done despite fun distractions away from the field such as the Ellis County Youth Expo which also played out during the week.
With a 2 game edge over both Itasca and Frost, Italy would have to lose 2 of their remaining 5 district games to relinquish their hold on the league and it’s highly doubtful that seniors Richards, Byers and Cockerham and the rest of the Lady Gladiators would ever allow that to happen.
Be sure to come out and show your support for the Lady Gladiators who welcome Grand Prairie Advantage to town on Friday, April 5 with the game starting at 5:30 p.m.