Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WELLSTON — Sometimes, the softball Gods simply shine on a club.
Meigs has been on a roll all season. But they found themselves in a tight battle on Wednesday night and found a way to come away unscathed.
Despite not collecting its first hit until the fifth inning, Meigs took advantage of four Wellston errors to seize sole possession of first place in the TVC-Ohio standings with a narrow 4-3 victory.
“I’m super proud of the girls. We were down a couple times and could have given up, but they just continued to fight,” Meigs coach Collin Roush said. “This is such a special group of girls, and they want it so bad. Wellston is a great team and a great program that has been one of the best over the last number of years. We knew it was going to be a battle and possibly come down to the final at-bat, and we came out on the other side with the win.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
The victory marked the team’s seventh straight win before they added an eighth straight over the weekend.
“These girls and us coaches have all been together since they were in tee-ball. We felt last year was a bit of a disappointment, considering the talent we know we have,” Roush said. “There’s a lot of work these girls have put in since the end of last season, and they’re putting everything on the table. This is a family environment, I mean half of the team are literally sisters and they all like one another. So the chemistry is really high.”
Neither team recorded a single hit throughout four complete innings. Meigs placed a runner on second base with two outs in the fifth, but flew out to end the threat.
Wellston then struck in the bottom half of the frame.
Following singles from Abrielle Reese and Kennedi Stevens, both runners later advanced to second and third. During the next at-bat, Reese scored on a passed ball to put the Golden Rockets ahead 1-0.
However, the game was far from over.
The Marauders started to put the bat on the ball in the sixth, and the magic began to happen. With a runner on second and two outs, Wellston committed a fielding error that allowed a runner to score and tie the game.
PHOTOS: Images from Meigs’ win over Wellston
The Rockets then committed another fielding error in the next at-bat, scoring another Marauder before Aubrey Newell smoked an RBI double into right field that extended the lead to 3-1.
“We have huge goals this year, and we have to go through those battles where things aren’t easy and you have to find a way to win if we want to accomplish those goals,” Roush said. “We’ve said since February that it’s not going to be easy. Adversity is going to hit us at times and how we handle it will determine what type of team we are. The girls have a lot of fight, but there’s still a long way to go.”
Although momentum had massively shifted in a matter of moments, the Golden Rockets weren’t going down without a fight.
With a runner on first and two outs, Reece Karr stepped to the dish and took a 1-0 offering for a ride over the left-center field fence, tying the game at 3-3.
Still, Meigs remained calm and took advantage of a final opportunity.
Wellston committed yet another error, and the runner later moved to third on a groundout. That set the stage for Shelby Yost to deliver the goods as she roped an RBI single into center field to put her teammates ahead 4-3.
Wellston managed to get a runner aboard with a walk, but the Marauders shut the door for the night by inducing a groundout, followed by Natalie Goode’s ninth and final strikeout of the game to seal the deal.
“Being on top of the TVC feels good, and we’ll enjoy it for now, but there’s still a long way to go,” Roush said. “I’ll enjoy it for about 30 minutes before starting to think about the next game. The tests and games don’t stop, so we’ll get back at it and continue to get better.”
Goode earned the victory in the circle in seven innings of work, allowing four hits, two earned runs and recording nine punch outs. Newell finished 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Yost was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Lyla Pittenger suffered the loss in 6 2/3 innings, giving up just four hits, one earned run and striking out three batters. Karr was 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs for the Rockets.
Meigs (17-1, 7-1 TVC-Ohio) earned a shutout victory on Friday over Athens, and will return to action on Monday at Alexander. Wellston (13-5, 7-2 TVC-Ohio) rebounded with a victory over River Valley on Friday and travels to Nelsonville-York on Monday.
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