In less than ideal conditions, the EvCC Trojans Softball team beat Highline Thunderbirds in a thrilling 13-6 comeback to take the series sweep on Friday, April 13 at Gaffney Field.

Wind gusts with added showers made play difficult. Trojans starting pitcher Amanda Lee struggled in the first two innings as weather conditions continued to worsen. Highline scored 1 run on 0 hits in the first inning, then scored 4 runs on two bases hits in the second inning making it 5-1 Thunderbirds.

“Kind of got a little flat (start of the ballgame) out of the gate, the weather started raining pretty hard, the ball started becoming slippery,” said Trojans Softball Head Coach Randy Smith.

“We just kept saying to ourselves we’re a scrappy bunch, we’re just going to keep putting the ball in play and do the things that make us successful. They were on a mission to come back and get this second one.”

Inning by inning, the Trojans clawed their way back. They scored one run in the first inning off one base hit and one error, two runs in the second inning off two base hits, and one more runoff in the bottom of the third on a walk with the bases loaded. A combination of the patient at-bats and the Trojans hit and run style of play brought the team back into the game only down 5-4 after the third inning.

“We like to do a lot of hits and run, put the ball in play, make people make a lot of mistakes and put the game in motion,” said Smith.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Trojans pulled out in front. Trojan’s second baseman Megan Dedrick lead the inning off with a double and Sydney Taggart walked. Taylor Arndt flew out to right field and Dedrick tagged up from third to score, tying the game 5-5.

Trojans catcher Whitney Harris stepped up to bat with Taggart on at third base and one out. With the count 0 balls and 1 strike, Harris crushed a two-run home run to left field, giving the Trojans a 7-5 lead. It was Harris’s first home run of the season in conference play.

“I went up to bat and told myself ‘base hit,’” said Harris. “I saw my pitch I drove through it and it felt amazing.”

The Trojans weren’t finished yet. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Arndt hit a bases-clearing RBI Triple into deep centerfield which scored three more runs. By the end of the fifth inning, the Trojans scored 4 runs and led 11-5. The Trojans would add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, making the score 13-6.

“I think we had a lot of confidence that we would come back (in that second game),” said Trojans shortstop Megan Dedrick. “We know we were a better team than them.”

Among the top performers was Amanda Lee, who pitched a complete game. Megan Dedrick went 3-3 at the plate, with 3 RBI’s and Taylor Arndt went 1-3 with 4 RBI’s.

The series sweep put the Trojans back at .500 with seven wins and seven losses in conference play.

For the complete box score visit the NWAC website by clicking on the link here

http://nwaac_sb.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=441777