With 18 outs in the rear view mirrow, the Juneau-Douglas High School softball team needed just three more to even the weekend series against Thunder Mountain on Saturday afternoon at Dimond Park.
But before they could do that, TMHS (5-1) scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to win 9-8 over the Crimson Bears (3-3) in walk-off fashion.
TMHS coach Brittany Gladsjo had a simple message for her team headed into their final at bat: “We’re going to win or we’re going to lose, we might as well walk out of here with a win,” she said.
“They went into that last inning with that attitude and they finally showed the bats that I know they have,” Gladsjo said.
Maxie Saceda-Hurt and Alondra Echiverri walked to lead off the seventh before TMHS made three straight hits.
With Gabrielle Scales at the plate with no outs and runners on second and third, Scales hit a grounder toward second base. Kyra Jenkins Hayes took off from third and made a nice slide into home for the game-winning run.
“I told her if it goes to second, you’re gone, and she just went on the hit,” Gladsjo said.
Sami Good was a stalwart in the batter’s box. The senior went 2-for-3 at the plate, drove in two runs scored three of her own.
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nolin.ainsworth@juneauempire.com.
