Chalk up two more wins for the suddenly red hot Red Devils.
Allen Community College’s softball team picked up its fourth and fifth wins in a row Monday, rallying late to take the opener, 8-6, then shutting down Cloud County altogether in game two to complete the sweep, 4-0.
Allen couldn’t have picked a more opportune time to play its best ball of the season.
With just four more games before postseason play, the Red Devils have rattled off six wins in their last eight games (and both losses came in the opposing teams’ final at bats.)
“Sometimes when you’re off for a little bit, and you have to come back it’s hard to build that, especially when you’re in the meat of your conference schedule. And we didn’t have any non-conference games. It was a little lack of confidence for sure.”
“They’re finding their click and they’re clicking together,” Red Devil head coach Nicole Peters said. “The last few games have been really fun for the girls. They’re enjoying it. Everybody loves a good win.”
The Red Devils never wavered, despite trailing 3-0 and 5-2, in the opener.
And then, when they fought all the way back to knot the score at 5-5 in the fifth, things could have turned sour when Cloud scratched across an unearned run in the top of the sixth to retake a 6-5 lead.
Allen has a little T-Bird generosity to thank for getting the winning rally started.
An error to open the inning put Alyna Brown on second with nobody out. She advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on Bella Gravatt’s bunt attempt by hitting home plate before the throw could reach the catcher.
Even better, Gravatt was safe at first, setting the stage for Lindsay Shippy to bat with two outs.
Shippy sent a 1-0 pitch into orbit, easily clearing the centerfield fence for the tie-breaking two-run homer.
Red Devil pitcher Madelynn Collins took it from there. She worked around a one-out error to secure the complete game victory.
While not as dominant as she was in a 1-0 shutout over Fort Scott two days earlier, Collins was plenty effective against the T-Birds.
She surrendered eight hits and three earned runs, while striking out five.
After spotting Cloud to a 3-0 lead after a half an inning, Allen struck back quickly.
