If you weren’t at the game on Tuesday evening, this story will not do the game justice. Heading into the game these were the top two teams in the EIAC standings, but no one expected a game like this. Great defensive plays, clutch hits, comebacks, great pitching, and questionable calls were everywhere in this marathon. However at the end of the day, East Central was able to regain the lead for third time in the top of the thirteenth inning and the Wildcats couldn’t muster another comeback in the bottom half of the inning to fall 7-5.
With the win clinched East Central clinched the out-right EIAC championship and improved their record to 20-3 (13-1 EIAC). Franklin County was the hard-luck loser and their record fell to 21-5 (10-3 EIAC).
East Central scored right away in the first inning with a couple of hits. J. Kincer was able to get a bunt single to the left side of the infield for the first base runner of the evening. She then stole second and advanced to third base on a dropped third strike to give the Trojans a runner on third with two outs. L. Henson then squeezed a single through the right side of the infield to give the Trojans the early 1-0 lead.
Both teams would remain quiet until the top of the third when East Central would add three more runs to their lead. With one out, C. Bennett would reach on an error from a bunt attempt to give the Trojans a runner at first. Then J. Kincer would strike again, taking a pitch down the left field line for a triple scoring Bennett from first base. Then with two outs, L. Henson would smack a home run over the center field fence to push East Central’s lead to 4-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning.
The Wildcats would cut into the deficit in the bottom of the third. Kloe Bolos led off the inning with getting hit by a pitch. Next, Kendall McCool would lay down a sacrifice bunt to advance Bolos to second base. Then a grounder to second by Abby Orschell would advance Bolos to third base with two outs. Gabby Mitchum came up with two outs and delivered for the Franklin County as she hit a hard ground ball through the right side of the infield to give the Wildcats their first run of the game. That made the score 4-1 heading to the fourth.
That would remain the score as both pitchers would hold each offense in check until Franklin County would make some noise in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kamryn McCool led things off with a hard ground ball single to right field, followed by another hard ground ball single to left field by Hannah Hornsby giving the Wildcats first and second with no outs. Camryn Brewer then poked a ball between short stop and third base, Y. Fox picked the ball up at short and hesitated to who she should throw the ball to. She ended up throwing it to third base to try to get the lead runner, but the throw would get away from the third baseman and allow all base runners to advance. With Kamryn McCool scoring, that made the score 4-2 with no outs and runners on second and third.
Maggie Wendel would keep the inning of scoring going by pulling a single into left field scoring Hornsby making the score 4-3. Wendel would advance to second on the throw to the plate so that would give the Wildcats runners at second and third with no outs. Sidney Wilber then smoked a ball into center field that appeared at first that it would drop in for a single. But eventually the ball carried into center field allowing the center fielder to make a sliding catch for the first out. Both Wildcat runners had broke like the ball was down, and attempted to get back to the base to tag up. Wendel was able to get back to second, but Brewer was doubled off at second to give the Trojans two outs.
Freshman Kloe Bolos came to the plate with two outs and delivered the tying run for the Wildcats. Bolos took a 1-1 pitch and lined it into right field, scoring Wendel to tie the game at 4-4.
East Central would go down in the seventh with only one base runner reaching, so that set up Franklin County for a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh inning. After the lead off hitter was retired, Gabby Mitchum single into right field. Next, Kamryn McCool drew a walk giving the Wildcats runners on first and second with one out. But M. Kincer would stop the Wildcat rally there and record a strike out and pop up to end the threat.
In the eighth inning, East Central would retake the lead. With one out in the inning, J. Kincer lofted a fly ball to left field that was dropped allowing her to advance to second. W. Howard would make the Wildcats pay the next at bat ripping a double to the gap in left-center field to make the score 5-4. Kamryn McCool would retire the next two Trojan hitters to end the inning and Franklin County would need to answer in the bottom of the eighth.
In the bottom of the eighth Maggie Wendel led off with a walk and Tessa Harper pinch ran for Wendel. After a strike out, Kloe Bolos grounded into a fielder’s choice that took the Wildcats down to their final out. Kristin Campbell would step to the plate and end up getting hit by an inside pitch, giving the Wildcats runners on first and second. The Wildcats would then get a clutch hit from Abby Orschell as she drove a single to right field to tie the game again at 5-5. The next hitter would pop up to second and we would head to the ninth inning.
East Central would go down 1-2-3 in the top half of the inning, and Franklin County would have another chance to strike in the bottom of the inning. Kamryn McCool and Camryn Brewer would reach on errors in the inning to give the Wildcats two base runners, but they would be stranded after back-to-back pop ups.
Pitching dominated the tenth inning as neither team threatened, then East Central went down 1-2-3 in the top of the eleventh. Franklin County would have another chance in the bottom of the eleventh. Gabby Mitchum would lead off the inning with a walk and then Kamryn McCool would follow that with a single to give the Wildcats runners at first and second with no outs. However the Wildcats would not take advantage as M. Kincer recorded back to back strikeouts and then got a ground out to end the threat.
East Central then had their chance to score in the top of the twelfth inning. A. Bortlein led off the inning with a single to right field. Kamryn McCool then recorded a pop out and a strike out to get the next two outs. The Trojans then recorded back-to-back singles by Bennett and Kincer to load the bases. But McCool would end the inning by inducing a pop up to short stop and leave the Trojans scoreless.
The Wildcats would get anything in the bottom of the twelfth which would take us to the thirteenth inning. Heading to the thirteenth the Wildcats would give the ball to Camryn Brewer to keep the Trojans at bay. However an error and a questionable call in the inning aided the Trojans efforts.
To begin the top of the thirteenth, L. Henson had a single up the middle. Next, Brewer got Y. Fox to ground to third for what looked like the first out of the inning. However, the throw from third was wide of second base and all runners were safe on the play. Both runners would advance to second and third on the throw. Next play, K. Zillick lofted a shallow fly ball into right field. Izzy Hoff made a diving catch on the play and the runner on third tagged up to score to tag the lead. However after an appeal, the catch was inexplicably waved up by the umpire allowing East Central to keep the runner on first and advance one runner to second. The Trojans would then hit into three straight ground balls to end the inning, but not before another run would cross the plate making it 7-5 going into the bottom of the thirteenth.
Gabby Mitchum led off the inning with a walk for the Wildcats, but that would be as far as she could get. Kamryn McCool then lined out to left field, followed by fly outs from Hornsby and Brewer to end the game.
M. Kincer got the win in releif for East Central. She went six and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on two hits and striking out four. Henson started the game for East Central. She surrendered four runs on eight hits over six and a third innings, striking out five and walking zero.
Camryn Brewer took the loss for Franklin County. In her one inning of relief she lasted allowed two hits and two unearned runs while walking zero.
Kamryn McCool started the game for the Wildcats and pitched an excellent game. She threw 12 innings on 190 pitches, allowing 11 hits and five runs (one earned) while striking out 19 and walking zero. With the 19 strikeouts, Kamryn McCool broke her own record for strikeouts in a single game which she set last year against East Central.
Franklin County collected ten hits on the day. Hannah Hornsby, Kamryn McCool, Maggie Wendel, and Gabby Mitchum each had two hits to lead the Wildcats. Franklin County also stole four bases during the game as Kamryn McCool and Gabby Mitchum both had two steals.
East Central collected 13 hits on the evening. Kincer, Henson, C Bennett, A Bortlein, and Howard all managed multiple hits for East Central.
Franklin County’s final regular season finale will be on Thursday night against Greensburg. First pitch against the Pirates is scheduled for 5 pm. Senior night festivities will start prior to the game. Come out and support our seniors in their final regular season home game!
Courtesy of Wildcats Coach Alex McCool.