Rebels rally, win on Huff bunt
The red-hot Boone County and Walton-Verona softball teams played a wild one Friday in Florence in a back-and-forth game won 7-6 by the Rebels with three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The hero was freshman designated hitter Kamryn Huff, on the smallest of hits.
Her one-out sacrifice bunt with a runner on third was misplayed for an error by the Bearcats' third baseman, who threw high to first, allowing Sydney Foster to score the winning run.
"As soon as I saw the first baseman jump, I knew something was happening," Huff said. "I kept running to second on the overthrow, but the umpire told me to stop because it was over."
Boone County, 18-5 and ranked No. 2 in the Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, won for the 12th time in 13 games with its third straight victory.
Walton-Verona, ranked No. 8, dropped to 21-7. The Bearcats had won four in a row and 10 of 11.
The persistent Rebels made it happen with a pair of rallies.
They trailed 2-0 after three innings, but tied it in the fourth on winning pitcher Dallis Knotts' sacrifice fly to center.
They went ahead with two more in the fifth.
Senior Madison Graham's run-scoring double to the center field fence made it 3-2.
Foster's bunt single scored Olivia Jackson for a 4-2 lead.
Knotts, a senior, got two of her seven strikeouts in the sixth. Walton-Verona losing pitcher Hannah Thacker retired the final batters on strikes in the bottom of the inning for two of her 10 strikeouts, setting the stage for a crazy error-filled seventh.
Knotts induced a foul pop to the first baseman and struck out her final batter for two quick outs in the inning, but Walton-Verona scored four runs to regain the advantage. Julanne Ginn's bases-loaded fly to right on a 3-2 pitch was dropped, scoring all three runners for a 6-4 Bearcats lead.
Boone tied it at 6 in the bottom of the seventh when Foster's shot down the line got past the left fielder, allowing two unearned runs to score.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Huff did her job on the game-winning bunt by getting it far enough down the line to force the third baseman to delay her throw to first after looking the runner back to third.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: Knotts went 3-for-3 with a sacrifice, offsetting a 3-for-4 day for the Bearcats' Olivia DeZarn. "It means we have a lot of heart and dedication to a game," Knotts said of the come-from-behind win. "We have three seniors, and we want to leave as best we can."
VIEW FROM THE SIDELINE: "We got too comfortable with a 4-2 lead, and both teams made mistakes at critical times to make the game what it was," said Rebels coach Andy Petridis, who liked his batters' poise when behind in the count. "We work on two-strike hitting, and we also made some adjustments (to Thacker), staying away from pitches she was getting us out on."
Said Walton-Verona coach Marlin Gregg: "That was ugly, and we've got a tough schedule coming up, so the confidence level has to remain where it's supposed to be. That's what we talked about after the game. We didn't get the normal outs, and the extra effort wasn't there, so we challenged them."
QUOTABLE: "We just have to get stronger from this and learn from our mistakes," Walton's Thacker said. "That's why we had our little meeting after the game. We need to make sure everybody's up after this." ⬛
WP: Knotts (14-3) 7 K's. LP: Thacker (17-4) 10 K's. Leaders: WV-DeZarn 3-4; Wassem 2-4, 2B; Rouse 2B. BC-Knotts 3-3; Jackson 2-3; Graham 2B. Records: WV 21-7, BC 18-5.