GC alum Mills helps Reinhardt win AAC Championship title
After winning three games in dramatic fashion during the Appalachian Athletic Conference Softball Championship, the Lady Eagles made sure no one would get the final out on them in the tournament as No. 16 Reinhardt used five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Milligan, 5-4, to win the tournament title in Kingsport, Tenn.
“We just don’t quit,” said RU head coach Jade Geuther. “We never feel like we’re out of a game. We just keep plugging away. We kept putting the ball away and getting baserunners on, and just did a great job of staying in the moment.”
The Lady Eagles entered the bottom of the seventh inning with just two hits for the game, but a single by Taylor Braselton started the rally. Jessica Baker singled to left and was lifted for pinch runner Madeline Moore. Sarah Kate Jenkins then drew a walk to load the bases with no one out, and Hunter Irvin came in to pinch run for Jenkins after the walk to give RU more speed on the bases.
Milligan went to the bullpen for its first pitching change of the inning, and a strikeout would get the first out of the inning. Haley Collins then grounded out to score Braselton and give RU its first run. Even with two out in the inning, Reinhardt still had a chance. Cassidy Howren would draw a walk with the bases loaded, bringing the potential game-winning run to the plate.
Sydney Flowers stepped onto first base to pinch run for Howren, and with Taylor Weeks stepping to the plate, Milligan went to the bullpen for a second time. It was during this time that a sense of calm seemed to fall over Reinhardt. “There was this weird confidence,” said coach Geuther. “We were calm and relaxed and knew we could get it done at that point. It just seemed like Taylor was smiling at Madeline, and she was smiling at Hunter, and everyone was just smiling at each other. That was the point where I knew we could pull it out.”
Weeks drew a walk on four pitches against Milligan’s new pitcher, scoring Moore to make it 4-2. Maddie Evans stepped to the plate, and the first pitch she saw went to the backstop, allowing Irvin to score and pushing Flowers and Weeks up an additional 60 feet on the bases. Then on a 2-1 pitch, Evans slipped a single into right. While the ball quickly got to the Milligan right fielder, Flowers scored with ease and Weeks did not even look at coach Geuther in the coaching box at third base as she made the turn for home. The throw to the plate was up the line towards first base, allowing Weeks to score and sending the Lady Eagles into a dog pile with the championship victory.
Evans would be named AAC Championship MVP after collecting two walkoff hits in the tournament, beginning in the opening game against St. Andrews. She finished the tournament with four RBIs, four runs scored, and a .385 batting average. Joining Evans on the All-Tournament Team from Reinhardt were Weeks, who went 6-for-12 at the plate for the tournament with three runs scored, and former Gordon Central High standout Maci Mills, who worked 17 innings in the tournament and struck out a tournament-high 18 batters. Mills was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Reinhardt trailed 1-0 after the second inning, then allowed three runs in the sixth to fall behind 4-0. Maddie Szalewski came on to pitch the seventh for Reinhardt and only allowed one hit in just her 16th inning of work for the season. She would be the beneficiary of the Reinhardt rally to earn her second win of the campaign.
Reinhardt will now take the next few days off before preparing for the NAIA Softball Opening Round.
In earlier action at the AAC Tournament:
Mills’ pitching helps Eagles into championship game
Reinhardt’s future games this softball season should be played on the cable network TNT because the Lady Eagles know drama.
No. 16 Reinhardt has won at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Softball Championship by a single run. After winning Thursday in extra innings on a walkoff and on Friday morning with a tworun rally in the sixth, the Lady Eagles held off a bases loaded threat from Milligan in the top of the seventh to defeat the Buffaloes, 3-2, Friday night in the winner’s bracket finale.
Reinhardt trailed 2-0 after the top of the first inning, but the Lady Eagles rallied with single runs over the next three innings. In the first, AAC Player of the Year Taylor Braselton singled with two out in the inning, stole second, then scored on Jessica Baker’s single to center. One inning later, RU took advantage of a Milligan error as Taylor Weeks singled home Angela Roberts, who reached on the Milligan miscue. In the third, Roberts would single with the bases loaded, scoring Baker and giving RU the 3-2 lead.
Former Gordon Central High standout Maci Mills only allowed three hits to Milligan throughout the game and struck out eight, but the senior found herself in a spot of trouble in the top of the seventh. After hitting the leadoff batter, Mills struck out the next batter, but a wild throw to second on a potential double play ball gave Milligan runners on first and second with one out. After a line out to left for the second out of the inning, Mills engaged in a 12-pitch at bat with Milligan’s Kimberly Robinson that ended with a walk to load the bases. The pressure of the moment did not get to Mills as her 130th and final pitch of the night was popped up to Roberts, who squeezed her glove for the final out of the game to send the Lady Eagles to Championship Saturday.
The Lady Eagles picked up their 40th win on the season with Friday night’s win.