One swing of the bat by Sycamore junior Tiana Begay stunned the Sterling Warriors in the Spartans’ walk-off 4-3 victory Tuesday.
“I haven’t been hitting really good lately, but in my mind, I was just thinking that I need to hit it no matter where it goes,” Begay said.
The Spartans (16-10, 9-3 in Northern Illinois Big 12) entered the bottom of the seventh inning down, 3-1, and unable to muster much offense. But Sycamore got some help from the Warriors’ defense to complete the comeback.
“We didn’t make two plays that we should have made, and when you make defensive errors in a tight situation, it’s always going to come back to haunt you,” Sterling coach Becki Edmondson said.
The Spartans’ Mindy Smits hit a shot that popped out of the Sterling left fielder’s glove to start the inning, and Gracyn Gabriel benefited from a low throw that got past the first baseman to put two runners in scoring position.
“Kudos to the kids getting it started,” Sycamore coach Jill Carpenter said. “It’s a tough play for the left fielder. It could go either way. We get a big break on the grounder, and we make something of it. And what a big swing by Tiana.”
Then Begay smashed a shot to deep right-center field for the game-winning home run.
“It was overwhelming,” Begay said. “I didn’t even know what was happening. I just saw the ball go.”
Sterling starting pitcher Jayme Eilers had a perfect game through four innings until Gabriel hit a home run to center for the Spartans’ first run with one out in the fifth inning to tie the game at 1.
The Warriors (18-2, 9-2) scored their first run on a double by Genea Garza, scoring Hannah Kessler in the third inning to take the lead.
The Warriors grabbed the lead again in the sixth inning as Garza scored on a suicide-squeeze bunt by Grace Gould.
Sterling padded its lead in the top of the seventh when Amayia Hernandez scored on sacrifice fly by Cara Alexander to make it 3-1.
Eilers finished the game allowing four hits and four runs, only two of them earned, and had seven strikeouts.
Sycamore starter Faith Reynolds allowed three runs and scattered seven hits over seven innings and struck out six.
By the numbers: For Sycamore, Begay went 2 for 3 with three RBIs, Gabriel went 1 for 3 with a home run and two runs scored, and Haley Trela went 1 for 3. For Sterling, Garza went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Kessler went 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Beyond the stats: After giving up the first run of the game in the third inning, Reynolds came back in the fourth and struck out the side.
They said it: “You have to do the things you know you’re capable of doing, and then you give yourself a shot throughout the course of the game to have that difference-maker type play,” Carpenter said. “So we took care of our own selves during the majority of this game, and that is, honestly, what gave us that chance at the end of the game.”
Up next: Sycamore hosts Stillman Valley at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Sterling takes on LaSalle-Peru at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at home.