Gary Ayers - Special to the MDN
Kennedy Anthony hit a sharp grounder into right field that drove in Rylee Rawls from second base for the walk-off winning run as Swain edged Mountain Heritage 4-3 in nine innings in the first round of the NCHSAA 1-A state playoffs at Swain High Tuesday. In the first home playoff game in ten years at Swain the heart-pounding win was also one of the most exciting games ever played at the home of the Lady Devils.
"Hats off to Mountain Heritage as they played a fantastic game," said Head Coach Toby Burrell following the extra-inning thriller. "Buchanan, their pitcher, pitched a great game and we just couldn't put together enough hit until those last two innings".
Swain jumped out to an early 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning as Rawls led off with a double and was driven in by Carley Teesateskie's base hit. That was the only run the Lady Devils would score in the regulation seven innings.
The Lady Cougars would tie the game in the top of the fifth inning on an rbi double by Layla Worley.that drove in Madi Dillinger.
With the game tied 1-1 entering the eighth inning thanks to outstanding pitching by both teams, Mountain Heritage blasted two home runs over the center-field fence off the bats of Worley and Sarah Forbes for a 3-1 lead.
But the Lady Devils would not go down without a fight.
Teesateskie led off the bottom of the eighth with a single up the middle and moved to second when Faith Woodard hit a sharp line drive off the leg of pitcher Nevaeh Buchanan. A passed ball allowed Teesateskie and Woodard to advance to third and second bases. Another passed ball then allowed Teesateskie to score from third while Woodard advanced to third base with the score now 3-2. Maddie Bird delivered a crucial single that got by the Lady Cougar left-fielder for a double that scored Woodard for the tieing run at 3-3.
Rawls, who struck out eleven without issuing a single walk and the Swain defense shut down Mountain Heritage in the top of the ninth to set up the dramatic finish.. In the bottom of the ninth, Rawls smacked her second double of the game to set up the game winning rbi from Anthony for the walk-off win 4-3.
"Our girls never gave up and showed the grit that we have seen before. We had confidence that we could string together some hits in that crucial bottom of the eighth," said Burrell. "It was a game that neither team deserved to lose as both teams played really great. We told our girls we are practicing tomorrow and playing again Friday and that was our goal coming into this game."
The Lady Devils will travel to face #1 seed Uwharrie Charter near Asheboro on Friday with a five-game winning streak. Uwharrie defeated #32 seed Mitchell 13-3 Tuesday.