Photo: Wallace State second baseman Sarah Ellen Battles records an out from her knees during the second inning of the Lady Lions’ game vs. McLennan College on Wednesday night.
HANCEVILLE – Not much had gone right for Wallace State’s softball team over the opening 6 2/3 innings against McLennan (Texas) Community College in their first-round game Wednesday night at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I national championship.
The Lady Lions (49-20) were just waiting to squeeze out a dramatic victory. Wallace State, seeded 11th, rallied for five runs with two outs in the seventh and prevailed 6-4 at the Canyons Complex, upsetting the 6th-seeded Highlassies.
Freshman Amber Hammonds sparked the seventh-inning rally for Wallace State, which is making its 10th appearance at the national tournament and seeking a third national title. Hammonds barely beat out an infield single, Olivia Royal followed with a walk and Taylor Beshears added another infield single to load the bases.
Sophomore Sarah Ellen Battles was next and fell behind 0-2 in the count before battling back and adding an infield single of her own that led to gold. McLennan shortstop Elizabeth Svienty scooped up Battles’ single and threw wide of first. The ball eluded the first baseman and trickled down the right field line, allowing Hammonds, Royal and Beshears to score for a 4-4 tie.
Wallace State’s Molli Garcia put an exclamation point on the rally, drilling a two-run homer to left field on a 3-0 count for a 6-4 lead. It was Garcia’s team-leading 16th home run.
Wallace State’s Julia Dailey (11-0) retired McLellan in order in the top of the seventh, securing the first-round victory for the Lions in a game that started at 9:30 p.m. Central and ended around 11:10 p.m.
“That’s probably the wildest win I’ve ever been a part of. It’s a big burden off our shoulders to win a game like that. We are Wallace State, and we always have a target on our back. There’s always going to be pressure. We just have to know how to deal with it,” said Garcia, who isn’t too far from her California home this week. “The one thing we weren’t going to do is quit, no matter if we were down to our last three outs or our last out.”
In one inning, Garcia and her Wallace State teammates surpassed the three-run total they mustered last season during two losses in Utah.
“Amber Hammonds did her best to get on base in the seventh and we took off. We put together some great at bats. Molli had the green light and took advantage. Maybe we can take these late hits and make a run in this tournament,” said Wallace State interim coach Jeff Benson. “Once again, Julia Dailey fought hard and deserved to win. We kicked the ball around behind her early and looked like we had never played defense before. We settled down and made up for it.”
Wednesday’s rally catapulted the Lady Lions into a winner’s bracket game Thursday vs. Chipola (Fla.) College beginning at 6 p.m. Central time. Chipola, the No. 3 seed, is the defending NJCAA Division I national champion and is also seeking a third national title.
Thursday will mark the second meeting between the teams. Wallace State beat Chipola 4-0 on March 11.
McLennan scored four runs in the third inning to grab a 4-1 lead on Wednesday. Victoria Gonzales had a two-run single in the inning and Dariann Resendez and Marisa Flores each added RBIs.
Parr finished with a pair of doubles for Wallace State, and Hammonds and Royal each added a single. Battles scored two runs.
Dailey went the distance for the Lady Lions, allowing three earned runs on nine hits. She struck out two.
Wallace State has won 43 of its last 50 games.
NJCAA tournament games are being streamed at https://www.sgcity.org/njcaa/index.php
For more information about Wallace State athletics, visit http://athletics.wallacestate.edu/.
