CARLISLE — Perry head coach Tina Kenney has been preaching the same philosophy throughout her tenure. In a nutshell, her approach can be called an urging to fight for every out and in every situation and never to relent. The urgency in her plea played out Monday, but, unfortunately, not in Perry’s favor.
The seventh-ranked Jayettes (22-9, 7-5) had overcome errors earlier in Monday’s game that had allowed four runs to score for the ninth-rated Wildcats (19-11, 7-4) and held a 7-4 lead entering the bottom of the seventh.
A ground out started the inning, Taylor Dubois, the lead-off batter in the lineup, reached safely when she took a swing and missed at a third strike that shot through the legs of catcher Brooke Huntington. She stole second base, and, after a walk to Delaney Schnathorst, moved to third on a double-steal.
Agatha Beier singled home Dubois to put Wildcats on second and third with one down and facing a 7-5 deficit.
Enter freshman Kennedy Preston, who turned on a 2-0 pitch and rocketed a walk-off three-run home run over the fence in left-center, setting off a wild celebration by the hosts as a visibly stunned Jayette team slowly walked off the diamond.
Carlisle had taken a 2-0 lead on a pair of Jayette errors and a Sara Scott single in the second, but Perry had an answer in their next at-bat.
The hosts have surrendered almost 50 more runs than Perry this season, and Kenney had urged her team simply to put the ball in play and apply pressure to an, at times, uncertain Wildcat defense. The Jayettes did just that, with five unearned runs in the third the reward.
Adriana Eastman walked and Brooke Huntington singled to start the surge, with Gabby West dropping a perfectly-placed bunt just down the first base line that spun in the dust. Wildcat catcher Beier, realizing too late the ball would stay fair, fired a hurried throw high past first base, allowing Eastman to score and putting runners on second and third.
Jo Diw walked, with an infield error off the bat of Sid Vancil scoring Huntington. The ball rolled into left field and West broke for the plate. Beier was well up the line blocking the base path without the ball, so West plowed into her, sending both tumbling. The ball, arriving late, sailed by as both fell to ground, with West scrambling to her feet and stomping on the plate.
Two ground balls and third error in the frame sent Diw and Vancil home and gave Perry a 5-2 lead.
The hosts used a Perry error, a Dubois double and a two-out single from Preston to plate their second set of two unearned runs to climb to within 5-4, but the Jayettes put two runs of their own on the board in the top of the fourth to create the three-run lead that stood until the seventh.
Starter pitcher Molly Hoesktra was replaced with the Scott, whose lesser velocity has been used by Carlisle to catch teams off stride this season.
Gabby West’s one-out single started a rally, with Diw reaching with a hit while Vancil drive in West and Diw later scored on a wild pitch.
Carlisle had threatened to climb back into the game in the sixth with singles from Preston and Alyvia Dubois starting the inning, but strikeouts surrounding a ground-out stifled the rally.
Diw was 2-for-3 with a walk and scored twice, with Vancil adding a RBI-single and a run, with Gabby West, Maddie West and Huntington also providing singles.
Emma Olejniczak allowed eight runs (four earned) on 10 hits and two walks while striking out seven in the loss.
Hoekstra yielded five unearned runs on one hit and three walks while striking out two in three frames, with Scott allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in four innings.
Preston was on base all four times she batted, reaching on an error, two singles and with the walk-off dinger. She scored twice and drove in four runs.
Perry will play a non-conference game at Des Moines North tonight before hosting Bondurant-Farrar Wednesday, with a trip to No. 5 Ballard slated for Thursday.
