UPDATED: Photo captions corrected.
By Cort Reynolds
The young Ada High School softball squad led almost the entire game, but the visiting Waynesfield-Goshen team plated four runs in their final at bat to rally past the Lady Bulldogs 11-9 on a cold, windy Tuesday evening, April 19.
The Bulldog girls dropped to 2-7 after the difficult non-league defeat. The Lady Tigers improved to 2-3 with the seesaw, come-from-behind victory.
Ada led 6-0 after the first two innings, but W-G methodically chipped away and grabbed a 7-6 edge behind four runs in the fifth frame.
The Bulldogs regained the advantage with three runs in the home half of the fifth. But then the Tiger girls pushed four runs across in the top of the seventh to cap their improbable comeback.
"We beat ourselves," said Ada first-year head coach Jeff Bassitt. "We made too many fielding and base running errors. We have to finish games.
"We have to learn from this and get better for the future," he added. "We did have some nice bunts."
"We made a good comeback," said W-G head coach Paul Patton.
Ada looked to be on its way to victory when they plated five runs in the home first. Freshman Jenna Bassitt singled to lead off, stole second and scored on a sharp single to right field by classmate Aidra Preston.
Preston stole second and scored on a Belah Price single to left. A throwing error on Natilyn McClain's bunt extended the lead to 3-0.
Katie Sizemore crushed a one-hop double off the left field fence, forcing Patton to change pitchers. After Kayla Wince walked and Raeya Finn legged out a bunt single, Ada stretched its lead to 5-0 on a wild pitch.
In the Ada second, Preston was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on the back end of a double-steal to provide a 6-0 margin.
But then Tiger freshman hurler Tatelyn Faraglia settled down.
In the top of the third, shortstop Preston executed an unassisted double play to end the inning. She snagged a low line drive and stepped on second base to end a W-G threat.
Waynesfield scored its first run in the third on an RBI double to deep right field off the bat of Zaria DeLeon.
In the away fourth, W-G continued to chip away at the deficit with two more scores. Kyleigh Bigelow hammered a solo home run over the fence in right-center field to make it 6-2.
Faraglia singled and later came home on a Bulldog error to slice the margin to 6-3.
W-G then took its first lead with a four-run fifth. A leadoff single was followed by a DeLeon single to left, and a run scored on an outfield error.
Taryn Tate singled DeLeon home to inch within 6-5. Bigelow smashed a double off the top of the center field fence to tie it, 6-6.
Bigelow later scored on a wild pitch to put W-G on top, 7-6.
Ada responded with three runs in the home fifth. McClain and Sizemore walked with one out. With two out Finn smashed a two-run double to right field, and she later sped home on an error to give the hosts a 9-7 lead.
Morgan Dirmeyer walked and Bassitt then slugged a triple but Dirmeyer was out at home, one of three Bulldogs called out at the plate trying to score in the game.
In the top of the seventh, the Tigers began their last-ditch rally. Leah Werner reached on a leadoff error. After a pop-out, Bigelow singled to left field.
Faraglia delivered an RBI single to cut the lead to 9-8. The tying run then scored on an odd short, soft hit that dropped in front of the pitcher, and Faraglia was safe at second on the attempted force-out throw.
Another Ada defensive miscue then allowed the two tie-breaking runs to scamper home.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Bulldogs threatened. With one out Finn was hit by a pitch. She advanced to second base on a groundout and stole third base, but over-ran the bag and was tagged out after a heady Schlegel throw to end the game.
"Our catcher (Zoe Schlegel) threw out three runners," Patton noted. "Tatelyn Faraglia came in early as a relief pitcher and got her first varsity win. We are excited about her future potential."
Faraglia pitched 6 2/3 innings of solid relief to earn her first varsity win. She struck out eight Bulldogs and also aided her own cause with two hits.
Freshman hurler Bassitt went all seven innings for Ada and suffered the tough-luck loss despite whiffing eight.
Bassitt tripled and singled to help pace the nine-hit Bulldog offense. Preston and Finn each contributed a double and a single.
Freshmen McClain and Price both singled, while Sizemore doubled and drew a walk.
Bigelow, one of four twin sisters on the Tiger team, led W-G with a home run, double and single.
123 456 7 R H E
W-G 001 240 4 11 9 5
Ada 510 030 0 9 9 7
WP-Faraglia LP-Bassitt (2-6)
2B-Preston (A), Sizemore (A), DeLeon (WG), K. Bigelow (WG), Finn (A)
3B-Bassitt (A)
HR-Ky. Bigelow (WG)
The Ada at Allen East (7-4, 1-1 NWC) softball game was cancelled Monday due to snow and cold. The rivalry game is slated to be made up Saturday, May 7 at AE.
Ada (0-2 NWC) is scheduled to play a makeup game at league foe Columbus Grove (4-2, 1-1 NWC) Wednesday, then host Delphos Jefferson (3-5, 1-1 NWC) Thursday.
