BINGHAMTON ― An unforgettable season found time to work in a couple more memories before ending with a state championship for the Hamilton softball team.
Hamilton was one out away from its title in New York’s Class D final when Argyle scored an unlikely three runs to take a one-run lead in the top of the seventh inning on Saturday, June 14, at Greenlight Networks Grand Slam Park.
The Emerald Knights retired the next batter and headed to their dugout with three outs of their own left to save their championship dream.
“Alexis LaFrance took the team when they came in, grabbed them by the hands and told them, ‘We can do this,'” Hamilton coach said Zac Darrow said.
Sophomore pitcher and leadoff batter Ellie Freeth was up first and deposited the first pitch beyond the fence in left-center field. Her first varsity over-the-fence home run tied the score.
“Not many high school sophomores could give up that lead, turn around, and hit that home run,” Darrow said.
Rihana Dye was up next and drew a walk, putting the winning run on base, then LaFrance did her part with a sacrifice bunt that allowed Dye to race from first base to third.
“Everybody that came up that inning filled a role,” Darrow said, “and that’s how we were able to get it done.”
Cleanup batter Adriana Catania fouled off her first three pitches and worked the count back even before she was hit by a pitch. Sicily Catania then was summoned from the bench to pinch-hit and given the bunt sign. A low pitch got by her bat, as well as the catcher. Dye, running with the pitch on a called suicide squeeze, paused, then continued running and slid safely across the plate with the winning run for an 11-10 victory.
“I didn’t see anything but the ball three feet away,” Dye said. “I heard coach yell, ‘Go!’ and I decided to keep going.”
“We might as well make something happen,” she added, “and that’s what we did.”
Dye said that in preparation for postseason play in Binghamton, the team had been told not to run on wild pitches unless they took certain angles because the backstops on the fields at Grand Slam Park are so close. She also noted the team had seen on film that Argyle tended to leave third base uncovered on bunts with a single runner at first base, another bit of scouting that had paid off in the winning rally.
Hamilton (19-2) scored five runs in the first inning and led 7-1 after three. Section II champion Argyle (16-7) had a five-run inning of its own in the top of the fifth, and tallied four more in the seventh to take its only lead.
Check back for more updates on this developing story.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Hamilton wins state softball championship with seventh-inning rally
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
