Her team trailing by four after two innings on Monday against Glenelg in the 3A East region quarterfinals, Long Reach coach Melissa Boardman stayed positive.
The Lightning had only one run on the scoreboard, but with five runners left on base, she knew they were knocking on the doorstep.
"I think everyone knew what we had to do, get back to putting together hits and really just coming together as a team. I have so much faith in this group and you could see that we were right there even when we were losing," Boardman said. "From our freshman to our seniors, I don't think anyone was ready for our season to end today."
Sure enough, the Lightning clawed their way back into it and then exploded for a nine-run fourth inning that ended up proving to be the difference in a 17-9 victory that advances the team into a region semifinal match-up against Mt. Hebron.
Long Reach (12-7) ended up pounding out 15 hits, drawing 11 walks and hitting three home runs on the way to snapping an eight-game Glenelg (13-8) winning streak. Ironically enough, the last team to beat the Gladiators was Long Reach back on April 20.
"It was just a huge game for us and a big win. We won the first time, but we really wanted to come back hard with this one," said Long Reach freshman Kamryn Walker, who launched a grand slam over the fence in left to make the score 11-5 in the fourth. The home run was the first of her varsity career.
Long Reach senior Isa Carunungan, who hit two home runs of her own in the fourth and went 4-6 with 6 RBI on the day, said that once the Lightning got rolling there was a snowball effect.
The team ended up having all nine players in its line-up reach base at least two times apiece on the day.
"I actually believe that once someone sparked it, then a whole line of fire started," she said. "I thought that it was great that everybody got the hits and then we were able to string in runs together. They couldn't get back up on top after that."
Early on, Glenelg had capitalized on some timely hitting and an ability to move runners over to score five times in the first two innings.
Paige Hoeflich hit a sacrifice fly in the first to score Katie Grimm (3 runs scored) and then Gabrielle Brown followed with a RBI single. Then in the second, Katie McIntyre (2-4) hit a 2-RBI double and Katie Dustin (3-3, 2 doubles, triple, 5 RBI) followed with a sacrifice fly.
But Long Reach, which had scored its lone run in the first two innings on a RBI hit by Rachel Jacavage (3-5, walk, 2 RBI), simply stayed the course.
The team got a lead-off double from Carunungan in the third inning. Hailey Ramberg (3-5) followed with a RBI double, Kasey White (2-4, walk) picked up a hit and Sayla Phillips (3 walks) reached on an error to set the stage for a four-run frame that tied the game.
After Carunungan (5 strikeouts in a complete-game effort at pitcher) set the Gladiators down in order in the bottom of the third, Long Reach got right back at it in the fourth.
This time the team ended up sending 14 batters to the plate on the way to taking its first lead of the afternoon.
It was a solo home run from Carunungan that got things started. A single by Ramberg, followed by three straight walks, continued to set the table. Then Walker came up and smashed a pitch over the fence to break things open.
Later in the inning, following a couple more singles, Carunungan hit her second home run of the inning to dead center and suddenly it was 14-5.
"We got ourselves jammed up, a lot of walks hurt us on some borderline pitches, and then they took advantage of their opportunities by getting some key hits," Glenelg coach Ray Gerstner said. "It did get away from us a little bit."
Glenelg, to its credit, certainly didn't quit. The team got two runs back on a 2-RBI double from Dustin in the bottom of the fourth to make it 14-7. After Long Reach added another run in the fifth on a RBI hit from Jacavage, Glenelg responded in the bottom of the sixth with another big hit by Dustin — this time a 2-RBI triple.
But ultimately, the hole was just too deep. Long Reach got its final two runs in the top of the seventh and then Carunungan shut the door on any comeback hopes by getting a ground out and a pair of strikeouts.
Looking ahead, Long Reach squares off against a Mt. Hebron squad that won the only meeting in the regular season between the two teams by a score of 7-3. The Vikings also knocked the Lightning out of last year's playoffs in the same regional semifinal round.
But Boardman says the team is excited about the opportunity.
"I mean we've been wanting to see Hebron again because we did not play well when we saw them during the regular season," Boardman said. "It's also interesting because Hebron and Long Reach, a lot of the girls on the teams are really good friends so it's always a fun game. Throw in that I coached under Chuck (Struhar) my first year and that just adds to it.
"But yeah, when we're on it, we can play with anyone. So that's just what we need to do against them — play our game."
Long Reach 17, Glenelg 9
123 456 7 R-H-E
LR 014 910 2 17-15-2
G 230 202 x 9-9-4
Other scores:
Mt. Hebron 20, Reservoir 0 (3A East)
The Vikings had revenge on their minds and they got it in a big way against the visiting Gators. After losing to Reservoir during the regular season, Mt. Hebron came out and scored at least once in every inning and really broke things open with an 11-run fourth inning.
After giving up a lead-off single to Reservoir's Carly Clarke, Evvie Buehlman didn't allow another hit. She finished with eight strikeouts and three walks in five innings. Buehlman also had a big day at the plate by going 4-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.
The Vikings scored five times in the first, getting singles from Buehlman, Megan Holquist, Kieran Davis, Stephanie Bluhm, Rachel Veslany and Alex Marasa.
The last three batters in the Mt. Hebron line-up all were productive, combining to score four runs and get four hits.
Overall, heading into a meeting with Long Reach on Wednesday, Mt. Hebron has won eight straight games and allowed only 10 runs during that stretch.
123 45 R-H-E
Re 000 00 0-1-4
MH 531 (11)x 20-18-0
Chesapeake-AA 8, Atholton 3 (3A East)
The Raiders had taken an early 1-0 lead on a double by Patty Drumheller, who then came around to score on a RBI groundout from Miranda Thompson in the top of the first.
But once Chesapeake got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the third courtesy of RBI hits from Brionna Bowman and Abby Muller, Atholton never saw the lead again. Chesapeake added five more runs in the fourth, highlighted by another 2-RBI single from Muller.
Atholton later closed out the scoring with a RBI groundout from Ruth Glenn that scored Bethy Medina (double) in the fifth and then a RBI groundout by Sydney Rhodes in the sixth.
123 456 7 R-H-E
A 100 011 0 3-6-2
C 003 500 x 8-13-0
Howard 5, Springbrook 3 (4A North)
The Lions pulled out the tight victory, taking the early lead and holding on the rest of the way. Jamie Bahrijczuk (5 innings, 2 runs against, 3 strikeouts) and Ally Wieman (2 innings, 1 run against, 3 strikeouts) split the pitching duties to lead the way.
Shanya Gordon paced the offense with a 2-run home run, while Wieman went 2-2 with a RBI. Rachel Oliver and Lydia Maruschak also each chipped in with a double and a RBI.
The team also had senior captain Berit Batterton make her season debut for an inning after missing the entire regular season with an injury.
The Lions will now play defending state-champion Sherwood on Wednesday.
123 456 7 R-H-E
S 000 201 0 3-4-1
Ho 220 010 x 5-6-2
South Carroll 7, Marriotts Ridge 0 (2A West)