POWELL — In the midst of a 13-game winning streak, the Lancaster softball team has won in every different way imaginable.
The Lady Gales have blown teams out, won close games, and rallied in late innings. On Friday, May 15, against Olentangy Liberty under the lights, Lancaster looked to be dead in the water, trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh inning, then the unimaginable happened.
Sophomore Mackenzie Hedrick led off the seventh inning, and what happened next, well, it was almost fate. Hedrick hit a routine pop-up right behind first base. The first baseman and second baseman both went for the ball, and at the last second, they both backed away, thinking the other had it. The ball dropped, giving Hedrick new life.
On the next pitch she saw, Hedrick hit the ball over the left-field fence, but it was foul, then on the very next pitch, she didn’t miss. She hit a game-tying home run, and it sparked a four-run rally in the seventh inning, giving the Gales an improbable 5-2 nonconference victory, and more importantly, their 14th consecutive victory.
The Gales, which were 5-6 at one point, improved to 19-7.
After Hedrick’s home run, Hannah Smith singled and Alleigh Chevalier doubled. Freshman Julia Carsman hit a sacrifice fly to score a run, then Lana Prince laid down a perfect bunt to score another run. Prince would round the bases and eventually score on a wild pitch.
Hedrick was grateful for the second chance, but she was surprised that the pitcher threw her a strike again after she had just hit a foul home run.
“I just focused on the next pitch. I wanted to hit a line drive, and instead, I hit a home run,” Hedrick said. “I thought she was going to throw me high again, and she threw right down the middle, and I could tell it was gone as soon as it left my bat. It felt really good. When I was rounding the bases, it felt overpowering, and I have never felt that way.”
Senior Kileigh Rohr started the game in the circle for the Gales, and she was outstanding, pitching four shutout innings, giving up three hits, and striking out eight. She left the game with the Gales leading 1-0.
Lancaster scored in the first inning when leadoff batter Hailey Rings singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a JoJo Sheets single.
Hedrick came on in relief in the fifth inning. She gave up two runs in the bottom of the fifth to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead. Hedrick was able to bear down, leaving the bases loaded in the sixth inning, and the Patriots had runners at first and third with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Gales turned a double play and kept Liberty off the board in the final two innings.
Lancaster’s last loss came on April 16 at Teays Valley. Lancaster led by three runs in the seventh only to watch the Vikings rally for an extra-inning victory.
“I think the Teays Valley game, we let up a little bit in the seventh inning, and we learned from our mistakes, and ever since then, our main focus has been showing grit late in games,” Rohr said. “We have done that, and I think that’s why we have won 14 in a row. Tonight, we were down in the seventh inning, and we showed a lot of grit. We played to the very end and pulled out the win. It starts with the team and the chemistry, and we have great chemistry that a lot of teams don’t have, and it’s showing up here late in the season. We are doing our jobs, and we are winning tough games, whether it’s bunting, squeezing, hitting line drives, or hitting home runs, we are winning these games because we are coming up with clutch at-bats in clutch situations.”
Lancaster will now turn its thoughts toward the Division I tournament. It opens play at home against Reynoldsburg on May 18. If the Gales win, the district final will be on May 21 at 2 p.m. at Berne Union High School.
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Lancaster softball’s improbable rally extends winning streak to 14 games
Reporting by Tom Wilson, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette / Lancaster Eagle-Gazette
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