LAKELAND — Alyssa Hillman’s clutch gene remains intact.
Bartow’s junior right fielder came up big in the state semifinals and the finals in her freshman season, and she did so again on Thursday. After the Yellow Jackets squandered a six-run lead earlier in the game, Hillman broke a tie in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Hillman, who earlier doubled, poked a bases-loaded single to right field that drove in two runs, and Bartow went on to defeat Viera, 11-7, in the Class 6A, Region 2 semifinals. Bartow will play the Durant-Lake Howell winner in the regional semifinals on May 13.
As a freshman Hillman began Bartow’s seventh-inning rally with a leadoff single then came around to score the tying run in the Yellow Jacket’s 3-2 victory over Doral in the state semifinals. The next day against Pace, she drove in the game-winning run in the top of the seventh that sent Bartow to a 5-1 victory.
Hillman’s heroics came with one out after Bartow loaded the bases on two walks and a fielder’s choice where all the runners were safe. She poked a bloop single over the infield into shallow right field to drive in two runs.
“I didn’t want to do anything big,” Hillman said. “I just wanted to get a base hit. I wasn’t shooting for a home run. All I knew was I trusted the process and trusted by preparation.”
Bartow’s starting right fielder, Hillman is batting .361 this season.
“She’s had a great year,” Bartow coach Glenn Rutenbar said. “She’s really had a consistent year. I’m happy for her. That was huge. It wasn’t a great but bit it was in the perfect spot.”
Bartow added two more runs Lexi Hayford’s sacrifice fly and Bailey Horsley’s single. The four-run inning capped a wild game when Bartow took 6-0 lead with just one run-scoring hit.
Emma Huffman, who walked four times and scored four runs, stole second and third with two outs in the first then scored on a passed ball.
Hillman led off the second with a double off the center fielder’s glove and scored on Horsley’s single. After a bunt and two walks forced home a run and loaded the bases, Horsley scored on a wild pitch and the bases were cleared when the throw back to the pitcher went into center field.
Bartow’s defense, however, led down starting pitcher Ryleigh Knowlton. Viera began its comeback with a run in the third that scored on Shay Parker’s throwing error.
After a leadoff walk in the fourth inning, second baseman Niamah Johnson, Bartow’s leading hitter, bobbled the ball on a routine grounder that could have been a double play and couldn’t get the runner at first. After a hits batter, Knowlton nearly got out of the inning as she struck out two batters, though a run was scored on a wild pitch.
Viera followed with back-to-back singles that drove in a run each — Bartow didn’t get the call at the plate on one of the hits — and Kamryn Potts’ three-run homer gave Viera a 7-6 lead.
“Niamah is one of the best second baseman in the state,” Rutenbar said. “That’s a double-play ball. It was just a bad inning.”
Bartow was able to regroup and come back to win. Parker singled home Huffman in the bottom of the fourth to tie the score.
“I think our biggest thing — and I think we’ve grown a lot from it — is when stuff like that happens, we had times where we’d just get down on ourselves and not be able to come back,” Hillman said. “But I think we’ve learned and we’ve grown from that. And the biggest thing with that was not staying down and just keep keeping it going, keeping the dugout going, cheering on our teammates, just trusting it again.”
Lefty Brooklyn Tyson came in to pitch in the fifth and threw three shutout innings with four strikeouts.
Rural-4: Fort Meade’s rally comes up short
Fort Meade trailed by five runs heading into the top of the seventh and rallied for three runs, but Williston hung on for a 9-7 victory to end the Miners’ season.
Marleigh Carroll’s two-run double made it a two-run game with one out, and Kenya Faulk’s two-out walk loaded the bases. However, Aubrey Bertrand made a great play on Ryleigh Grace’s fly ball to right that ended the game.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Hillman’s big hit allows Bartow to prevail over Viera after squandering 6-run lead
Reporting by Roy Fuoco, Lakeland Ledger / The Ledger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
