Lady Eagles ‘fearless’ in extra-innings win over Jacksboro

“We had to play fearless; I thought when things got scary, we played fearless.”

Holliday head coach Billy Arbogast had one mantra in the Lady Eagles’ district championship game against Jacksboro: be fearless.

There was no fear in the eyes of left fielder Sydney Linn in the bottom of the sixth when the go-ahead run stood on third as she pulled down a line drive to escape the jam.

There was no fear in the eyes of pitcher Addison Lindemann in the bottom of the seventh as she struck out Hadlee Richardson with the go-ahead run on second, nor did the Lady Eagles’ ace show fear as she started a 1-2-3 double play to work her way out of a bases-loaded, one out jam in the bottom of the eighth.

There was no fear in the eyes of Payton Murray as she fired home to cut down the game-tying run on a 9-2 putout on a would-be sacrifice fly to right field to clinch the win.

These kids played their hearts out for each other and it paid off with the No. 1 seed in a 7-6 win over the Tigerettes. Holliday (28-1) enters the postseason ranked No. 3 in the most-recent TGCA state rankings.

When it comes to playoff experience, the Lady Eagles have little to none due to the COVID-19 pandemic canceling a potential playoff run last year. That’s why Arbogast felt it necessary to play a high-caliber opponent in Jacksboro in what could potentially be a regional finals preview.

“Nobody’s been around for two years to get playoff experience,” he said. “We have a ton of sophomores on this team. We have seniors with blown knees playing on this team. It goes from 0 to 100 real quick (once the playoffs start). I couldn’t have played any other team that could have given us a game like that tonight. To put them in those situations and for us to go back and forth and back and forth, you couldn’t ask for anything better to get us ready to go down the playoff road. (…) That team played us like we needed to be played.”

The game opened with a pitcher’s duel for the first 2.5 innings with neither side able to crack the scoreboard. Momentum swung to the Tigerettes in the bottom of the third as Alex Holman belted a three-run blast to dead center, staking Jacksboro a 3-0 lead.

Holliday responded with a trio of long balls to take a 5-3 advantage. Linn led off the fourth with a solo blast to put the Lady Eagles on the board. After a popout and a strikeout, Kaitlynn Weatherread worked a two-out walk to extend the inning. Murray followed with a two-run job, hooking the foul pole in left to knot the game moments before Abby Turner launched her first dinger of the year, going back-to-back to put Holliday ahead. Kinley Marek followed with a walk before moving up to third on a bunt single by Evelyn Perkins. Perkins promptly stole second and an errant throw down allowed Marek to score and push the lead to 5-3.

A solo homer in the bottom of the fourth cut the lead to one before four straight singles in the bottom of the fifth tied the game.

Linn put the Lady Eagles back on top in the top of the seventh, 6-5, with her second round-tripper of the game but the Tigerettes wouldn’t go down easy, scratching across the tying run on back-to-back doubles.

In the top of the ninth, Perkins beat out an infield single to open the frame and moved into scoring position by stealing second. Following a popout, Linn earned a much-deserved four-pitch walk before Lindemann hit a slow roller to the pitcher. Jacksboro’s Holman turned and cut the lead runner down at third. Tigerettes’ third baseman Avery Bennett made a wide throw to first attempting to double-up Lindemann. Linn raced home to score what would eventually be the game-winning run.

Jaci Gann from Jacksboro led off the bottom of the ninth with a double before a sacrifice bunt put the tying run on third. Bennett lifted a shallow fly ball to right where Murray camped under and fired to the dish, gunning down Gann and securing the win for the Lady Eagles.

Linn finished the night a perfect 4-for-4 at the dish with a double, two solo homers and three runs scored. Perkins added a 3-for-4 effort at the leadoff spot with a trio of stolen bases.

Lindemann (23-1) earned the win in the circle on a 176-pitch effort. The fireballer allowed six runs on 16 hits and four walks while fanning nine. She enters the postseason with a 0.94 ERA and 238 strikeouts in 134.2 innings of work.

Holliday meets Peaster in the bi-district round beginning on Thursday, April 29, in Bowie. Game one in the three-game series is set for 5 p.m., while games two and three (if necessary) are slated for Friday, April 30, at 5 p.m.