The Allen Community College softball team’s hot bats and strong pitching helped them sweep Southeast on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Red Devils (6-8) got behind the sure hand of MaKayla McGinnis in the first game. McGinnis shut out Southeast through six innings for a 9-0 victory. Allen then mounted a two-run comeback and walked it off on an RBI error by Southeast in the bottom of the seventh for a 13-12 win.
Game one
Allen scored a couple of runs in the bottom of the second inning to take an early 2-0 lead before the Lady Red Devils tacked on another run in the third for the 3-0 advantage. Once another run came home in the bottom of the fourth it gave Allen a 4-0 lead.
“We’re trying to take every extra base we can,” Allen head coach Nicole Peters said. “We are trying to teach them to be a little greedy which might hurt us but we’re always looking to get the next base.”
An explosion of five runs came across in the bottom of the sixth inning for the 9-0 win.
Bailey Cravens knocked in a team-high three runs while Haley Gedrose drove in two runs. Lacey Stamper, Ashley Tribble and McGinnis each drove in one run.
McGinnis’ impressive start in the pitcher’s circle saw her shut out Southeast through six innings, serving up three hits and striking out three batters.
“She (McGinnis) has really stepped up with Skyler out, worked ahead in counts and we played behind her defensively too,” Peters said. “That’s always a big thing.”
Game two
The second game was a thriller which saw Allen take a 13-12 victory on a walk-off error hit by Ellie Hacker.
“I think just picking each other up is what this team prides itself on,” said Peters. “We have a pass the bat theory and I think it’s done really well for us. We just want each kid to get the bat in their hands, give everybody a chance in the lineup and that’s the mentality we have.”
Southeast jumped all over Allen for a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning. The Lady Red Devils responded by scoring one run in the bottom of the first and three runs in each the second and third innings. Southeast knotted the game at 8-8 in the top of the fifth.
Allen scored in the bottom of the fifth and sixth for a 10-8 lead. Southeast then plated four runs in the top of the seventh to take a 12-10 lead. Allen immediately responded by scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Hacker came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with runners on base and knocked a walk-off hit error for the 13-12 victory.
