NAPAVINE — The Napavine softball team nearly went quietly into a belated spring break. But going into the bottom of the seventh down five runs to Raymond-South Bend, coach Josh Fay gave the Tigers an alternative.
“I said we could finish on a high note and come back, and I guess they thought ‘What the heck, let’s score some runs,’” he said.
That’s just how it went, as the Tigers — who needed five innings to put a ball on the outfield grass — turned on the rally machine in a hurry, plating six runs in the blink of an eye to win 9-8 in walk-off fashion.
Cailyn Milton, who’d gone the distance in the circle for Napavine, got it started with a single up the middle. An out later, slugger Dani Tupuola, working on a hitless outing to that point, stick a ball just inside the foul line in right field for an RBI triple, and the gap was down to 8-4. Hayden Kaut worked a walk to get the tying run into the on deck circle, and from there the wheels really started turning.
Grace Pancake hit an RBI single, and as quick as that Clara Fay did the same, making it 8-6 and moving up to second to put two in scoring position. Grace Gall dropped down a bunt, the Ravens threw it into right field, and both runs scored, tying the game. Avery Schutz dropped down another, RSB committed another error, and Gall came around to walk it off.
It all happened so fast that neither side realized the game was over, leaving the Tigers to come out of the dugout more in confusion than celebration.
“They’re probably still afraid I’m going to yell at them,” Josh Fay said.
Clara Fay finished the day 3 for 4 with a pair of RBIs. Together she, Gall, and Schutz combined for five hits and three runs at the bottom of the order, along with the two bunts that ended up tying and winning the game.
“Avery’s done a great job, I can’t say enough positive things about her putting the ball in play and being aggressive on the bases,” Josh Fay said. “And Grace had a couple of nice hits.”
Napavine finished with nine hits as a team, seven of which came in the final three frames.
Before that, the Tigers struggled mightily to string anything together. Clara Fay opened her day 2 for 2 with a pair of infield singles, but the rest of the Napavine order combined to go 0 for 12 in the first four frames, with two more batters reaching on errors. With RSB’s Summer Stigall bringing a riser to the table, the Tigers found themselves flailing at pitches at their eyes early, but as soon as they figured out the zone, the contact became a lot harder late.
“In practice, we’re great,” Josh Fay said. “At some point it’s got to click for us, and the good news is that there’s a lot of season left. At some point, what we did in the last inning there, I think we can do for the majority of the game. Because athletically, we’re capable of doing it.”
The Tigers fell in an early hole four batters into the game, when the Raves put a pair of runners on with a bloop and a bunt, then brought both home on a three-run home run.
From there, Milton settled down, giving up three runs over the next four innings, though a two-spot in the top of the seventh looked to have given RSB its needed insurance. Milton struck out two and walked one in the seven-inning outing.
Napavine will be off for over a week, returning to the field Thursday against Onalaska.
