SAN ANGELO — Cassie Grant hit a walk off double to earn the Coahoma Bulldogettes another bi-district championship on Friday.
On a 3-2 pitch, the Coahoma High School senior hammered the ball which dropped right into the gap and brought in Kaylor Green to score the winning run. Coahoma won 4-3 over the Comanche Maidens.
“At first I was freaking out and I was shaking, but as soon as I hit the ball I knew it was going to drop,” Grant said. “We’ve been working on this for a long time, for this game right here.”
Green got on base when she singled on a 3-0 pitch.
However after the single, the Comanche Maiden pitcher regrouped and struck the next two batters out. Then the Comanche coach opted to walk Jaydan Mann, who went 2-for-4 at-bat including an RBI triple earlier in the game, and have his pitcher face C. Grant who was 0-for-3 when she walked up to the plate.
Overall the Maidens out hit the Bulldogettes 10-9, but Coahoma kept their postseason alive through outstanding defense especially in the extra innings and the strong arm of pitcher MaKynlee Overton.
Over the nine innings, Overton gave up 10 hits, three runs and struck out 10. She faced 36 batters, threw 122 pitches and got 88 strikes. The Maiden's pitcher, Chloe Williams faced 40 batters, threw 165 pitches and got 106 strikes.
Overton said she stayed focused on two things during the game: getting the next out and counting on her teammates for backup.
“My team, my seniors, they are the reason I do everything,” she said. “They are the reason I am playing right now, and I am giving all the glory to God. He helped me through the game. He gave me the power.”
Coahoma’s strongest inning at-bat came in the sixth with two runs scored. Macee Grant started it off with a double on a hard hit line drive to center field. M. Grant went 2-for-4 and earned a run after Overton followed with a double on a fly ball to center field to knot the score at 2-2.
Green, who led the Bulldogettes at the plate going 2-for-4, brought Overton home with a line drive to center field to push Coahoma back into the lead 3-2. The Maidens tied the score in the seventh inning, but Overton got out of it by striking out the last two batters and left runners stranded on first and third base.
The Maidens got runners in scoring position in both the eighth and nine innings but couldn’t capitalize thanks to the Bulldogette defense. The nearest the Maidens came to a score in the extra inning was in the eighth when a runner attempted to steal third but was tagged out before she could cross home plate.
Next: The Bulldogettes head to Abilene to face last years area opponents Henrietta in a three game series. The first game will start at 6 p.m. Friday on the Abilene Christian University campus. The second game is set for 6 p.m. Saturday but may be played earlier depending on the outcome of other scheduled games playing on the same field. If needed, the third game will begin about an hour after the second one.
COMANCHE 3, BULLDOGETTES 4
Comanche: 000 110 100 -- 3 10 0
Coahoma: 001 002 001 -- 4 9 1
W — MaKynlee Overton, L — Chloe Williams. 2B: Comanche — Williams, Lynzie Day, Carly Rodriguez, Reagan Harms; Coahoma — Overton, Macee Grant, Cassie Grant. 3B: Coahoma — Jaydan Mann. SB: Comanche — Kenna Car, Vicki Lopez, Danielle Wendt; Coahoma — Madison Rodgers, Kaylor Green. Pitches-Strikes: Comanche — Williams 165-106, K. Car 2-0; Coahoma — M. Overton 122-88.