MIDDLETOWN, Ind. —
If the TV series “Twilight Zone” was still in production, and if creator Rod Serling was still alive, the script from the Shenandoah vs. Union County softball game would be rejected as too weird.
In a game that took three days to complete, Union County scored an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 2-1 victory in the first round of sectional play Friday evening.
The Raiders were in some trouble when the day started. The game picked up in the bottom of the sixth with Union County threatening to break the 1-1 tie.
The Patriots had runners on first and third with two outs.
If the Patriots scored, the Raiders would have had just three outs to push across a run or be eliminated.
But Shenandoah pitcher Yardley Collett retired Brooke Reibolt on a flyball to center fielder Stephanie Mingle on the first pitch.
In the seventh and eighth innings, neither team got a baserunner.
That set the stage for a strange ninth inning that for once had nothing to do with the weather.
It appeared that Shenandoah would be the first to break the deadlock when Laken Goff doubled to lead off the inning against Maggie Tidrow.
Things got even brighter for the Raiders when the throw off Andrea Hise’s bunt was dropped at first by Union County. Shenandoah had runners at the corners with nobody out.
But Aramyss Hensley struck out. Alexia Talkington popped up and the ball again popped out of the Patriots’ first baseman’s mitt, but Tidrow caught it before it hit the ground for the out and Goff had to hold at third.
Alivia Benbow struck out to end the threat.
Union County opened its ninth with a walk by Sydney Goyette, who had replaced Collett as the pitcher in the eighth. The Raiders then turned a couple of great plays to keep the Pats off the board.
A Union County sac bunt was turned into a force out at second. Reibolt then doubled to the left-center field fence for the Patriots’ first hit.
Hise, the left fielder, picked the ball up and hit shortstop Eva Cave with the throw. Cave threw a strike to catcher Talkington to tag out the runner and prevent the winning run from scoring. The batter took second on the throw.
“I drilled them last week on hitting the cutoff man on those plays,” said Shenandoah coach Stacey Goyette. “They executed that perfectly.”
Allison Franklin hit a fly ball to center field. Mingle had the ball go into her glove and pop back up into the air. The ball hit the ground before she could recover, and the winning run came across the plate.
“It’s a shame the game has to end on a routine play like that,” said Goyette. “Stephanie Mingle hasn’t made an error all year. She’s played very well for us.”
Despite the loss, Goyette was able to be upbeat.
“I’m proud of them,” she said. “They brought it day after day. Each day they started they were really into it. They have been deeply invested in the program and deeply invested in this game.”
Shenandoah ends the season at 13-11-1. There are six seniors on the tournament roster.
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Shenandoah catcher Alexia Talkington tags out a Union County at home plate during Friday's sectional game against Union County. Aaron Piper / The Herald Bulletin
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