With the odds reaching their longest Tuesday night, the Columbus High School slow-pitch softball team dug down and found a way.
Columbus scored three runs in the home half of the seventh inning to rally for a stunning 14-13 victory against New Hope at Lady Falcons Field.
Despite scoring the game”s first four runs, Columbus had to rally three times before knowing for sure this one was a win.
For first-year CHS coach Jaime Melton, who hails from the New Hope community, the victory was especially sweet.
“This was such an emotional win for me because I am from New Hope. Those are my stomping grounds,” Melton said. “We gave a 200-percent effort. We made some errors but fought through the adversity. I am very proud of this team because they never gave up, and they believed the whole time.”
The Falcons grabbed an 11-10 lead in the home half of the sixth on a massive two-run home run by NeNe Bardley. New Hope answered with a three-run, two-out home run in the top half of the seventh inning by Kasey Stanfield. However, Bardley would not let her game-winning RBI go away with a fight. Her two-out RBI single through the middle capped the final rally in the seventh.
“This win means a lot,” Bardley said. “We have had some close games with them. But this is my senior year, and we”ve got to win it. We really played with our hearts tonight. I admit I got scared (after falling down 13-11), but if you believe, you can do anything.
“With our team, we have a great attitude and we never give up.”
Columbus (2-2) opened the scoring with the first of the game”s seven home runs in the home half of the first. After a single and pair of walks, Porchia Brooks launched a grand slam over the wall in dead center.
New Hope (3-1) answered with two scores in the second and three more runs in the third. Anna McCrary began the second with a double. Ashley Reed and Abby Wilson had infield hits to load the bases. Taylor Blevins drew a bases-loaded walk and a line drive sacrifice fly by Kaitlin Bradley scored the other run.
The Trojans grabbed their first lead an inning later. Lauren Holifield hit a solo home run to left field. Four more hits, including one by Abby Wilson, tied the game. Blevins” second straight bases-loaded walk made it 5-4.
Columbus answered with an unearned run on an outfield misplay in the bottom of the third.
The tie was short-lived as New Hope grabbed a 7-5 lead in the fourth on a two-run home run from Holifield.
For Columbus, Whitney Kyles answered with a game-tying two-run home run. The Falcons had six hits in the fourth but could muster only an 8-7 lead as a runner was retired at the plate.
New Hope tied the contest in the fifth on an RBI single by D.J. Sanders. The Trojans grabbed the lead at 10-8 in the sixth on a two-run, two-out double by Reed — her fourth hit of the contest.
Columbus answered with a solo home run from Nikki Ousley.
In the New Hope seventh, Columbus got the first two outs and appeared poised for victory. Instead, Sanders had an infield hit, Holifield lined a hit to left field, and Stanfield followed with her fourth home run of the year.
However, things went quickly south for New Hope in the home half of the seventh. Three consecutive walks to the bottom third of the order began the big final at-bat. Ousley connected for a sacrifice fly. Shaquala Fulton followed with an RBI single to tie the game, but the game-winning run was out at the plate. Bardley made amends two pitches later when she slapped her game-winner.
“Seven walks and four errors,” New Hope coach Tabitha Beard said. “We didn”t play good defense. We didn”t play New Hope Trojan softball. It happens. Now, what type of team do you have? Do you lay down or do you come back fighting? Hats off to them. They did what they had to do to win.”
Sanders and Reed each had four hits. Fulton had four hits for Columbus.
“We erased each inning every time we came back to the dugout,” Melton said. “We told the girls to treat it like it was a new ballgame. It was all about moving forward. It is coming together finally. You see the players beginning to execute what we have been coaching. We made too many errors today, but we are improving each game and playing hard. This is a super win for our team.”
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