Yulai Woodruff has been simply brilliant from the pitching circle for the majority of the 2024 high school softball season.
The East Hamilton junior fireballer upped her strikeout total to a massive 241 as she provided one of the most clutch performances of her career in Monday's 1-0 Region 3-4A semifinal road shutout of Cleveland.
With a tremendous amount of sizzle and pop to her fastball, not to mention movement, the righty fanned 12 Lady Blue Raiders while escaping two bases-loaded jams in the second and fourth innings to secure a trip to the sectionals round.
"Yulai has been one of this state's premier strikeout pitchers this season," East Hamilton coach Norma Nelson said. "The speed of her fastball is destructive. When she hits her movement pitches, she is hard to hit. She was on fire tonight. What I love about her the most is she is just so easy going all of the time and always ready to have the ball in her hand."
Woodruff — who at one point not long ago was averaging over two strikeouts per inning — gave her team a major spark as she stranded the bases loaded in the fourth by recording all three strikeouts in the inning on swinging strikeouts. The first two came on well-located curveballs, while the third came on major heat to Ashley Allen, Cleveland's most powerful hitter.
The Lady Hurricanes (18-11) would provide all the run support needed in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Jada Rutley singled on a sharp ground ball to centerfield and advanced to second as the ball got away from the outfielder. Rutley then showcased her speed as the junior scored what turned out to be the game-winning run on a double by sophomore leadoff hitter Bailey Poschke on a 3-1 count.
Poschke has led East Hamilton in batting average this season after making a huge impact on last year's team that finished fourth overall at the Class 3A state tournament. She also has worked extremely well behind the plate with Woodruff, who allowed four hits and five walks in Monday's 137-pitch shutout.
"What Yulai has done for us this year on the rubber is insane," Poschke said. "I am so proud of her. Really, she has been kind of carrying us this season. Even when we are not hitting well she stays up on her pitching and keeps the other team down. I am also proud of Jada tonight too. She is a great base runner and when she makes contact, you can almost guarantee she can get on base."
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / East Hamilton's Jada Rutley scores the lone run of Monday's Region 3-4A semifinals road victory over Cleveland.The left-handed hitting Rutley led all with two hits and also had a stolen base, as did Poschke who also got on base twice in the victory.
Cleveland senior Lily O'Bryan doubled to right center field in the fourth inning and a walk to Landri Nelson loaded the bases with two outs.
However the Lady Blue Raiders (22-16) were shutout for just the second time in a season in which they became the first team in program history to win a regular season and district tournament championship. Allen and O'Bryan were sharp from the circle in the defeat as they combined for four hits while not being charged with an earned run.
A locked-in Woodruff was just too much to overcome as she recorded the final out of the game with another loud pop of the mitt for her ninth swinging strikeout of the game.
"We are extremely happy to keep playing," said Woodruff, who just missed her eighth home run of the season on a long single in Monday's victory. "No one wanted to lose tonight. I had to make sure my pitches were moving against a really dangerous lineup. I believe our team has what it takes to get back to Murfreesboro."
East Hamilton will travel to Walker Valley (28-7-1) for Wednesday's region championship game. The Lady Mustangs won 11-4 over Bradley Central on Monday as Karly Blackwell homered and tripled while driving in three runs along with Ryann Presswood, who recorded the complete game victory with nine strikeouts.
Bradley Central (17-20) got a pair of home runs from Karly Farkas in the season-closing defeat.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Cleveland senior Ashley Allen delivers a pitch in Monday's Region 3-4A semifinals against East Hamilton.