Northside rallies past Family Christian

CROWLEY – It’s been said that the last three outs of a ballgame are the toughest ones to get.

Fortunately for Northside Christian, that was exactly the case Thursday in their regional-round playoff game against Family Christian.

Trailing 7-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Lady Warriors rallied for five runs on five hits and three walks to earn an a dramatic 8-7 victory over the visiting Lady Flames.

The victory sends Northside (15-10) back to the Fast Pitch 56 tournament in Sulphur for the third straight year. The Lady Warriors will take on either Starks or Assembly Christian Friday at 4 p.m. on Field 20 at Frasch Park.

“We showed a lot of heart and character today,” said Northside Christian coach Brenda Hendrix. “We never gave up.”

The game-winning rally began when Lady Warriors loaded the bases and pushed across a run before making the second out of the final inning.

Things looked bleak when FCS starter Leeanna Clabough got ahead 1-2 in the count to Skylar Comeaux. But the senior right fielder drove the very next pitch up the middle for a two-run single to keep the Lady Warriors’ hopes alive.

“Skylar really got us going,” said Hendrix. “She’s a senior now and she didn’t want this to be her last game. She came back and pulled out a big hit for us.”

With the bases loaded Whitney Duhon then drew a bases-loaded walk that plated Ashley Abshire to tie the game at 7-7.

That brought up Mandy Johnston, who started the inning off with a single. She stepped to the plate and delivered the fatal blow, a bases-loaded single to right, to give Northside the one-run victory.

“We struggled a little at the plate today, but we stepped up when we needed to at the end of the game,” said Hendrix.

Northside’s struggles started early when the Lady Warriors left four runners stranded in scoring position in the first three innings. In all, they stranded seven runners, six in scoring position.

“We had some missed opportunities early in the game,” said Hendrix. “We have been struggling offensively late in the season and we’ve toyed with the lineup and it worked tonight.”

Northside pounded out 10 hits on the afternoon, none of of them from returning All-Stater Sarah Ancelet, who was intentionally walked each of her four plate appearances.

“We’ve played them (FCS) twice this year and Sarah gave them trouble both times,” said Hendrix. “They tried to make her a non-factor today, but we had other players step up and come through with the big hits.”

Johnston was the most productive at the plate, going 3-for-5 with one RBI while Comeaux was 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Ashley Abshire, Brandy Carrier, Lynsey Reed and Whitney Duhon each had one hit and one RBI and Sarah Sonnier had a single.

Johnston also got the victory on the mound for the Lady Warriors, giving up seven runs on four hits and seven walks. She struck out 11.

“This gets us back to Sulphur and we’re looking forward to it,” said Hendrix. “We have some good players who are playing with heart and determination and we’re not going to give up.”