Story By Jeffery Gibert
West
Potomac Senior, DigitalSports Intern
Photos and Videos By Medhi Charfi
Edison Senior, DigitalSports Intern
** Click the links to the left to access photos and video highlights from Monday’s game!
Patriot junior Kimmi Oldham‘s timely big hits helped Yorktown squeak by Edison, 4-3, in eight innings in the National District Softball Championship.
“I think that was a great game to end on with the District,” Oldham said. “It was really close, and we were all really emotional, and really wanted it, and that was the way that it should have been.”
Added Yorktown coach Julie Fetter: “There was a roller coaster of emotions for sure. I thought I was going to have a heart attack.”
Trailing 2-1 and down to their last out of the sixth inning, Patriot sophomore Kelly John hit a routine ground ball, but there was a wild throw to first base. The throw that could have gotten the Eagles out of the inning allowed
John to reach second base, and that proved to be the breath of fresh air that a rattled Yorktown team needed.
“Capitalizing on errors really helped us this game,” Yorktown senior captain Annie Blaine said.
Junior Laurie Pinkerton came up to bat next and hit an RBI double to tie the game up. Pinkerton was followed by Oldham, who was 0-for-2 entering the at-bat, but she stepped up huge and hit an RBI triple, pushing the Patriots ahead, 3-2.
“It was a good boost for the back of the line-up,” said Pinkerton, who was bookended by John and Oldham in the bottom three of the order.
The Eagles would not give up easily, though. Down to their second-to-last out, sophomore Rachel Clasen struck out, but had the presence of mind to run to first base after the pitch was dropped. She beat the throw and was driven in by the next batter, junior Britney Weber, who hit a double.
After a scoreless bottom-half of the seventh inning, the game went into extra innings.
Then, Blaine pitched a three-up, three-down top half of the eighth inning.
“We play really well as a team,” Blaine said. “I just think it was our year.”
Their year, it was.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Oldham came up to bat again, looking to put her team ahead for a second time. John, who reached via a walk, was on second base and Pinkerton, who was just hit by a pitch, was on first base.
The stakes were even higher this time, but Oldham proved to be a pressure cooker. She hit another RBI double to win the game for her team.
“A few games ago, [Kimmi] made the last out in a 1-0 loss,” Yorktown assistant coach Deb Litman said. “So this was like a huge vindication for her.”
“It’s just an amazing thing that she was able to take that experience and turn it into something.”
Yorktown assistant coach Laura Rubinchuk: “These young guys stepped up and actually won this game for us, today.”
Although Edison lost, it made the game much closer than the regular-season meetings with Yorktown. In those two games, the Eagles lost 4-0 and 18-2.
So for them to push Yorktown to extra innings is an accomplishment itself.
“No matter what, I am so proud of my team,” Edison senior Lisa Kindred said. “This is the best game we’ve ever had all season.
“We worked so hard for this, and words can’t explain how proud I am of our team.”
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