HUBBARD BREAKS THROUGH WITH WALK OFF OVER POLAND

HUBBARD, Ohio –

The Hubbard Lady Eagles (15-9) came into their matchup with the Poland Bulldogs (18-6) with three goals. Avenge their 13-0 loss to Poland earlier in the week, keep the Bulldogs from earning an outright NE8 championship, and gain momentum heading into their district semi-final appearance.

Starting the day off stranding a Poland baserunner at third, the Lady Eagles took a huge stride towards their objective when they plated 2 runs in the bottom half of the 1st.

Back-to-back singles to start the inning left runners on the corners and none away with Gillian Ryser coming to the plate. Continuing her impressive season, the senior 1st baseman hit aRBI single up the middle to score the inaugural run of the game. Sydney Bowser would later hit aRBI single of her own through the 6-5 hole to put the Eagles up 2.

Scoring would stall until the Bulldogs 4th inning got them back into the game. Bleak after 2 outs to start their half, Poland’s Mary Bryant would reach thanks to a walk. After stealing both second and third, Bryant then came across to score thanks to an RBI single off the bat of Katie McDonald.

McDonald, also the starting pitcher for the Bulldogs, would be replaced on base by a courtesy runner, M Dinard. Dinard would reach 2nd thanks to a passed ball, steal 3rd, then eventually come across to score on another passed ball, tying the score at 2 all.

The Lady Eagles would respond with 2 runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. After Kailah Gregory and Lexi Nadjusak would reach thanks to an error and a single, Gillian Ryser stepped up to the plate and delivered for the 2ndtime of the day, this time with a 2 RBI single up the middle.

With their outs running thin and trailing by 2, Poland would once again tie the game in the 6th. Back-to-back singles would have runners on andone away with Katie McDonald, already with one big hit on the day, heading to the plate. However, an 11 pitch at bat would end in a strikeout for the sophomore pitcher. Just as it seemed the Eagles would be able to escape with their lead intact, Gia Schiavone would poke one out to right field for a game tying 2 RBI single.

A scoreless bottom 6th followed by a scoreless top 7th left the Lady Eagles with a chance to walk things off in the bottom half of the inning. Singles by Haley Croyle and Sydney Bowser to start the innings saw runners on the corners with none away. Phobe Rusnak would head to the plate with a chance to be the hero. The freshman Rusnak would deliver with her bat but in a very unconventional way.

After watching the first pitch for a strike, the Poland catcher would attempt to throw down at the runner on 3rd. The catchers throw would never reach 3rd and instead hit off of Rusnak’s bat hanging over her shoulder while she was still in the box. The mistake would allow Croyle to score from third and give the Eagles a walk off victory, 5-4.