The ending to Wednesday’s Cumberland County at Stone Memorial softball game was anything but ordinary as the Lady Panthers won 7-6 in walk-off fashion.
In the bottom of the seventh with two outs on the board and a runner at second, Stone Memorial’s Taylor Todd hit a line-drive to short that was ruled a no-catch, followed by an errant throw to first base that allowed Marley Minneci to score from second base, winning the game 7-6 for SMHS.
“Both teams played extremely hard,” said SMHS coach Brittany Bilbrey. “To see them (SMHS) stay together for seven innings was a huge positive for our team. We’ve played parts of games, but tonight we strung it together and we were able to come out on top.”
Minneci, a senior for the Lady Panthers, had a memorable performance as she went 3-5 with four RBIs, a double, a three-run home run, and two runs scored, including the game-winning one in the bottom of the seventh.
“It was a good night for her to break out of her shell a little bit,” said Bilbrey. “She had the three-run homer to tie the game. That says a lot about her. She came up in the bottom of the seventh, and like a true leader, she did what she had to do to get a base hit that wound up being the winning run.”
After a scoreless first inning, Stone Memorial took a 3-1 lead after the second. Sierra Reed scored Storie Hollingsworth on a single to give CCHS a 1-0 lead before Brooke Davis tied the contest via single to score Kimberlyn Cash.
Stone Memorial took the lead on the next batter as Bethany Wilson scored Kelly Herbert and Minneci scored Davis to put SMHS ahead 3-1.
Cumberland County looked poised to run away with the contest as the Lady Jets scored five runs in the top of the third to go ahead 6-3.
Kelsi Hodgson, Madison Kerley, Carlie Sherrill, Holley Shaw and Hollingsworth each made it home safely in the inning.
Minneci changed the game with one swing in the bottom of the fifth as the center fielder hit a three-run home run to center, tying the game at six runs apiece.
The final run of the contest would come via Minneci in the bottom of the seventh to win 7-6.
Wilson finished the day 3-4 with an RBI and run scored for SMHS.
For Cumberland County, Reed went 3-4 with three RBIs, a double, and a stolen base.
The teams will face off again on Monday at Cumberland County.
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