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Ast's walk-off ousts Oak Grove, 7-6
Move aside World Series, a true fall classic was played Wednesday night at Bushwhacker Field.
Facing the reigning Class 3 state runner-up Oak Grove Panthers, the Nevada Lady Tigers erased an early six-run deficit en route to a 7-6 walk-off triumph in the state-tourney sectional-round.
"What a game, all-around," said an elated first-year Nevada head coach, Danny Penn. "It was a really well-played game. Right now I'm excited, pumped for our girls — I'm so proud of them and how they played."
Trailing 6-5, and down to their final strike, sophomore center fielder Bailey Ast laced a hard grounder through the right side of the infield, plating two runs and propelling Nevada into the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.
The picture darkened early for Nevada, as Oak Grove jumped out to a commanding 3-0 advantage via Kelsey Webb's three-run blast to left-center.
Oak Grove tacked on three more in the second, punctuated by Alahna Wilson's RBI infield single, for a commanding 6-0 advantage.
Nevada stranded the bases loaded in the first and second innings, with star freshman third baseman Kirstin Buck coming up just a few feet short of smacking a first-inning grand slam.
Nevada broke through in the fourth, with Ast's run-scoring single, and Hailee Lundine's towering three-run homer to center trimming the deficit to 6-4.
Lundine's round-tripper also knocked hurler Webb from the contest.
Nevada's big fourth inning continued, as Buck's sharp RBI-single up the middle whittled the deficit to a run. Buck, however, was stranded in scoring position as the inning came to a close.
"We knew we were going to score some runs, it was just a matter of settling down and putting some zeroes up on their side of the scoreboard to stop their momentum," Penn noted. "That allowed us to have better at-bats."
After coming on in relief in the second, and aided by above-average defensive play behind her, Nevada senior Maggie Leisure blanked Oak Grove from the third through seventh innings.
Facing Oak Grove relief pitcher Macie Dunham in the seventh, junior Abby Harder reached on a leadoff walk. With one down, and locked into a lengthy battle with Dunham, the slap-hitting Madison Hyder punched an offering down the right field line.
Leisure followed, advancing the runners to second and third via a fielder's choice groundout.
Ast then stepped into the batter's box, sending the first two pitches just foul, quickly going down in the count 0-2. Ast then took a pitch that narrowly missed outside.
Dunham's next offering was in Ast's wheel-house, as the speedy center fielder lashed the pitch opposite field for the walk-off 2-RBI sinlgle, sending the Nevada Tiger faithful into pandemonium.
Ast concluded the contest with a 3-for-5, three RBI performance.
"Once I had two strikes on me, my heart was roaring,” said Ast, “When I hit it, I knew one run would score, but wasn’t sure if the second one would. It was so exciting to do this as a sophomore, and I’m just glad I could come through for the team and for our seniors.”
Ast said she breathed a big sigh of relief after taking the two-strike pitch.
"I really thought that was going to end the game," she said with a wry smile.
Said Penn: "Big at-bat, especially from a sophomore. Getting down 0-2, and not letting the moment get too big for her. Took a close pitch there for a ball, but just had confidence in her abilities."
After pounding out 11 hits through the first two frames, Leisure stemmed the Oak Grove tide, allowing just one hit the rest of the way, setting down 10 straight batters during a middle inning stretch.
Leisure struck out three and walked one, while throwing 62 of 85 pitches for strikes over six sterling frames of work.
"Just staying calm and not letting my nerves get to me," Leisure said of her keys to success. "My fastball and change-up were really working for me."
Leisure, a clubhouse leader, said she made sure her teammates kept their heads up while facing the early-inning adversity. "Most importantly, you have to keep your energy up," she said. "You have to keep talking in the field and in the dugout. And, no matter what the score is, you have to act like it's zero to zero."
Penn discussed Leisure's superb performance.
"She was huge," he said. "Just stopping the bleeding there in the second inning. Just the epitome of what you need from one of your seniors, to do whatever the situation calls for. She did a great job in the circle, and a great job at the plate as well."
Nevada (16-8) rides a 10-game win steak into their Class 3 quarterfinal matchup with the Savannah Lady Savages on Saturday.
Savannah (18-2) is set to host the contest, with first pitch slated for 4 p.m.