OAKLEAF -With its leading hitter at the plate with the winning run at third in a tie game with one out, the last thing you likely expected from Rebecca Koskey was for her to put a bunt down.
Yet with its offense struggling and the reality of their season getting closer to coming to a potential end, Oakleaf turned to small ball late in the game.
Koskey, who led the team with a .468 average and 31 RBI, laid down the perfect suicide squeeze between the pitchers mound and home plate, charging first baseman Tiara Peters tried to field the bunt but couldn’t get a hold of it allowing lead off hitter Katie Kistler to slide around catcher Anna Hull to give No. 1 Oakleaf a come from behind 3-2 win over No. 4 Fleming Island in eight innings.
Knights do it again with walkoff squeeze again !! Oakleaf wins 3-2 in Bot 8. pic.twitter.com/TyEF3Vnop9
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) April 26, 2018
Katie Kistler led off the inning with a double to left and advanced to third on a sac fly to right from Kaylee Lambrecht to set up the walk off single.
Head coach Christina Thompson didn’t hesitate to call the play to Koskey when the team needed a spark on offense with its season on the line.
“Koskey leads the team in hitting and home runs, but I knew she was able to put down a squeeze,” Thompson stated. “Some times you just have to do what you got to do to get the job done and we just have to find a way to make it happen.”
Koskey wasn’t surprised by the call despite being the leader of the offense.
“I was more surprised for Angela than I was for me, because I have put down 9-10 bunts this year,” Koskey stated. “I’m very confident as is coach, she trust our bunting and it’s up to us to execute.”
It wasn’t the first time she called it, two innings earlier trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Thompson called for senior Angela Agurkis to lay one down. Koskey, who led off the inning with a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch, raced home tying the game at two.
Tie game squeeze play 2-2 now. Going to Top 7. pic.twitter.com/SrKd788Ov3
— Corey Davis (@ByCoreyDavis) April 26, 2018
“I knew Angela was struggling and I knew we many not get another opportunity and she is a team player and it was the right call for us,” Thompson said.
Agurkis was calm and very relaxed in what may been her biggest at bat of her career, potentially her last ever at bat in an Oakleaf uniform.
“I was thinking I have to get this down and once I laid it down, there was no stopping us,” Agurkis said. “The energy was up and we knew were coming back and winning, it got us pumped up.”
Both clutch calls were needed thanks to Fleming Island pitcher Morgan Kendrick handcuffing the potent Knights offense to just three hits through five innings and five total on the night.
The freshman struck out eight and consistently frustrated the Knight batters with a solid mix of pitches repeatedly getting out of jams in several innings.
Early on nerves got the best of Kendrick as Kistler led off the first with a bunt single and advanced to second on a passed ball in the dirt. Kistler stole third and scored on a Kendrick wild pitch to give the Knights a quick 1-0 lead.
With no coaches or her teammates going to talk to Kendrick to settle her down, finally her dad yelled to the team for someone to talk to her. After a brief huddle with the infielders, Kendrick began to settle down a bit.
Koskey moved from first to third thanks to another pass ball and wild pitch but the Eagles defense bailed Kendrick out as Baylee Goddard lined to short and shortstop Mady Lanoux doubled up Koskey at third who was off the bag heading home on the play for a double play.
From that point on, Kendrick was calm and found her groove and frustrated the Knights.
“Her rise ball was working well and she was really amped up and playing with a purpose,” Thompson said. ”
Part of that reason was her offense helped her out as Peters singled to left, Morgan Grimm drew a one out walk and Halle Carless delivered a clutch two out 2 RBI double to left center scoring both Peters and Grimm to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead in the top of second.
That was all the run support she would get and need for nearly six innings as Kendrick became a thorn in the Knights side.
Meanwhile her counterpart junior pitcher Madi Davis also settled down after a rough second inning and found her groove retiring 19 of the final 21 batters following the double, allowing only a two out walk in the third and a lead off single in the sixth.
As good as Kendrick was the Knights had plenty of chances to tie the game through out the game but Kendrick kept getting out of the jams; however you knew it was a matter of time before they would finally break it open.
Destiny Pacetti walked with out in the third and advanced to third via stolen base and a ground out, but was left stranded after Kendrick got out of it with a grounder to third.
In the fourth, with one out Goddard was hit by a pitch and stole second but again Kendrick retired the next two batters with a strikeout and a grounder to short.
Madison Mifsud led off the fifth with a single to left but was replaced with a pinch runner who was left stranded at third after stealing second and advancing to third on a pass ball. Kendrick got another strike out and a pop up to short to end the inning.
Kendrick kept dodging close calls in the third, fourth and fifth innings but couldn’t in the sixth just six outs from pulling off a shocking upset over the No. 12 in the country according to MaxPreps.
Davis and Kendrick retired the side in the seventh to send the game to extra innings, while Davis quickly retired the Eagles (13-7) in the eighth via three ground outs to set up the bottom of the inning.
Fleming Island had the No. 1 team in the state on the ropes for six innings before the Knights found another way to pull out a come from behind win. Something that has been needed in wins over West Nassau (twice), Bartow, Eustis and nearly happened in a loss to Lakewood Ranch.
Thompson knew this was going to be a tough one for her team as anything can happen in districts and you don’t come ready to play you can easily get upset and see your season come to an end.
“I knew this one was going to be tough, we didn’t show up offensively but I kept stressing to not think ahead as this was our most important game of the season,” Thompson said, “They didn’t want to be the team to end the streak, 8 straight years now in the playoffs.”
Oakleaf (24-2) hosts Atlantic Coast (15-12) today at 6 p.m. in the District 2-8A title game, with the winner hosting the first round of the playoffs next Wednesday, while the runner-up will travel to Tallahassee.
Atlantic Coast 3, Fletcher 1
Clinging to a 1-0 lead in the sixth, third seeded Atlantic Coast (15-12) stunned second seeded Fletcher (14-9) 3-1 in the first semifinal thanks to two late runs in the inning.
Early on it appeared a single run in the fourth thanks to an Erin Moon and Maya Harris RBI double scoring Moon would be more than enough for the Stingrays.
The Stingrays made sure they kept stepping on the gas and kept putting on pressure adding to its lead in the sixth inning thanks to two hits and two costly Senators errors.
Shurrell Jefferson laid down a perfect bunt that catcher Taryn Freshwater picked up and threw wildly to first and all the way past the left fielder ro allowing Jefferson to score all the way from first for an apparent insurance run. However as Jefferson rounded third and headed home the umpires ruled a dead ball.
Jefferson had to catch her breath and keep her composure, but followed with a single to left to start the inning. Harris reached on error by Dallas Waterson putting runners on first and second, after a pass ball which moved up both runners to second and third, Asheleigh Paramore followed with a 2 RBI single to right for a 3-0 lead. Paramore advanced all the way to third as the ball got past the right fielder for a two base error.
However, pitcher Jen Poston was able to get out of the inning with consecutive pop ups and a ground out to go to the bottom of the inning.
Perhaps getting out of the jam seemed to spark the Senators offense finally as Freshwater laced a one out double to right and scored on Poston sac fly to right cutting the lead to 3-1 heading to the seventh.
However, the Senators were retired in order in the seventh allowing the Stingrays to pull off the upset and advance to the title game and more importantly in the playoffs.
Early on, Poston pitched well striking out five and allowing two hits through three innings before getting into trouble.
Poston gave up a lead off double to Moon and a one out single to Harris to give up the first run of the game; yet was able to get out of it with back-to-back strikeouts.
Stingray starter Sophia Abrams locked down the Senators potent lineup along with stellar play by her supporting defense.
Fletcher had a great opportunity in the first as Waterson and Freshwater singled to left putting two runners on base with two outs, yet Poston popped up to short to end the threat.
Jocelenn Walls led off the third with a single to left and Waterson drew a one out walk to put the Senators into scoring position, however Abrams induced a pop to short to get out the jam.
A one out single by Audrey Tackett in the fourth went for nothing as Abrams got a pop up to short and a grounder to second to get out of it.
Makaila Maness led off the fifth with a single to right and Walls followed with a sac bunt advancing Maness to second however Maness got caught in a pickle rundown between second and third for the second out nullifying another potential scoring threat for the Senators.
The Stingrays had a great opportunity in the fifth as Alyssa Grupp singled to left an Kennedy Searcy reached on a fielders choice with two outs but Poston got out if it with a fly out to right to keep it 1-0 through five.
