It’s been one of those softball season where everything seems to be falling Silverdale’s way. That has certainly been the case with senior southpaw Ella Cunningham doing most of the pitching.
Such was the case at Silverdale Friday afternoon as Cunningham was again masterful, winning again with a one-hitter where she had one walk and 14 strikeouts.
And while the Michigan State commit has been almost as impressive at the plate, that wasn’t the case in this latest game that improved Silverdale’s record to 43-3 with its 30th straight win.
And while Silverdale breezed to an 8-0 win over Knoxville Grace, it was the second game of the day that created the most excitement as Boyd Buchanan scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to defeat a really good Lakeway Christian team by a 7-5 final.
Knoxville Grace and Lakeway play in the consolation game at 5 on Monday while Silverdale and Boyd will face off at 7 for the championship.
SILVERDALE 8, KNOXVILLE GRACE 0: Cunningham is tied for the team lead in home runs with 14, but her offense wasn’t a factor in this game.
The Lady Seahawks did hit three home runs on the day, including two from sophomore right fielder Braylee Raby, whose two-run shot in the second put her team up 2-0 while a solo shot in the sixth extended that lead to 7-0.
Center fielder Kennedy Stinson, like Cunningham the only other senior on the team, is now tied with her left-handed pitching buddy with 14 home runs after Stinson hit a towering two-run shot in the fifth that cleared the scoreboard in left and possibly Bonny Oaks Drive.
And while the offense was nice as Silverdale scored at least one run in four of the six innings where they batted, coach Jackie Freeland was happy that she got a great pitching performance as well.
“I’m really proud of the way we played and the way we approached this game as we were really loud in our dugout. Ella pitched another great game. It took us a minute to get started, but our goal is to always win the inning.
“But Ella threw one fastball and that was the ball they got for their only hit,” Freeland added.
Hayden Hill lined the third pitch of the game into center for a single, but was quickly thrown out at second by catcher Gabbie Hensley when she tried to steal.
Hannah Hodges reached on a two-out walk in the fifth, but there were no other base runners for the Lady Rams.
Meanwhile, Raby’s first home run to right-center gave the Lady Seahawks the early lead while Hensley’s first of two doubles in the fourth drove in Raby with the third run.
Then in the fifth after two quick outs, Emry Masterson drew a walk and scored on a double by Jaliyah Whitaker to make it 4-0. Stinson then ripped one of her longest home runs ever to deep left as the lead swelled to 6-0.
Raby’s second home run in the sixth to almost the exact same spot in right-center, made it 7-0. Hensley then ripped a double off the fence in left that missed being a home run by about a foot before scoring on Grace’s third error of the game.
Raby had three hits, three RBIs and scored three times to lead Silverdale while Hensley had the two doubles. Whitaker and Stinson had the other two hits.
BOYD BUCHANAN 7, LAKEWAY CHRISTIAN 5: The Lady Buccaneers had one of their most stirring comeback wins of the year to defeat Lakeway and will be rewarded for their effort with a third chance to face Silverdale on Monday.
Coach Tom Watson used four pitchers during Friday’s win, but it was back-to-back home runs in the seventh that sparked the come-from-behind win.
Trailing 5-4 going to the bottom of the seventh, Brooke Watson ripped a two-run homer to put Boyd up by one before Kiley Elliott hit her second of the game for the final two-run margin.
Coach Tom Watson has been around softball a long time and has seen more than his share of great comebacks, but this latest one ranks right close to the top of that list.
“What a great win for our team. Lakeway has a really good team and they beat Baylor earlier, but this may be the most team-oriented win I’ve ever been around,” Watson said by phone after the game ended.
“We used four pitchers tonight and I can’t ever remember doing that, but Laney Johnson is our backup catcher and just an eighth grader and she did an incredible job of making sure all of our pitchers were ready.
“This is the most proud I’ve been in a long time as every member of our team were a vital part of this win. We got off to a rough start, but Peyton Schweiter came in and game us three strong innings to keep us in the game. We never quit and I’m so proud of them,” Watson added.
KNOXVILLE GRACE 000 000 0 – 0 1 3
SILVERDALE 020 132 x – 8 7 0
Million and Hodges; Cunningham and Hensley.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)