On Friday evening, the Midway Lady Waves hosted a Sub-State contest at their home field for the third consecutive year. Would the SOR Girls make their third straight trip to Murfreesboro? Could the Unaka Lady Rangers steal the Lady Waves’ spot at State? For eight and a half innings, the outcome was unsure.
This was a defensive battle all the way. It was the third inning before either team could place a runner on base. In the bottom of the third, Taylor Narramore drew a walk with two outs. Alex Coffman laid down a beautiful bunt to reach safely and move Narramore to second base. Sadly, the Waves would leave both runners stranded, after a ground-out by the next batter.
Midway’s ace pitcher, Hannah Colyer, had a no-hitter going until the top of the sixth frame. With a runner on second base and two outs, Unaka’s top hitter drove the ball to center field. The third base coach of the Lady Rangers knew that one run could possibly win this game. As the runner from second approached third, he waved her toward home plate. Only he didn’t know about the cannon arm of Lady Wave center fielder Krystal Rue. Rue made perhaps the best throw of the season as she gunned the ball to catcher Haley Parks. Parks calmly caught the ball and applied the tag to the surprised runner. Most teams could not have made this play. Rue and Parks made it look easy.
The defensive struggle would continue. Midway’s Colyer singled to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning, but she was left stranded. Unaka would get another hit in the top of the eighth, but could not score.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Midway showed an offensive spark. Parks singled to left, and Rue bunted safely to move her over. The Lady Waves had two runners on base, with no outs. The spark turned to a fizzle, however, when the next three batters grounded out.
The tension mounted, as the game moved well into extra innings. In the top of the ninth frame, Unaka singled. After a strikeout and a sacrifice bunt, the Lady Rangers would have a runner on second with two outs. A Unaka batter made contact with the ball, but it popped up harmlessly to shortstop Alex Coffman for the third out .
The breaking point in this game finally came in the bottom of the ninth inning. Colyer would lead-off for the Waves with a big stroke to the fence. She wanted the win badly. As she approached second base, Colyer decided to stretch a double into a triple. It was a close play. As she slid into third base, she was called out on the tag. This was a questionable call to say the least. Almost all the Green Wave faithful were outraged. The out, however, was the least of their problems. Hannah lay on the infield in obvious pain. On the slide into third, she had jammed her ankle badly. She eventually had to be helped back to the dugout. At this point, someone yelled, “Win it for Hannah!” Kati Alexander responded in a big way when she singled over the Unaka shortstop’s head and later stole second base. After a Midway pop-out, Paige Moree drew a walk. The Lady Waves now found themselves in a serious predicament. Yes, Midway had runners on first and second. However, they also had two outs. More importantly, their star pitcher was on the bench with an injured ankle, and it seemed unlikely that she would be able to take the mound for the tenth inning.
That’s when little Haley Parks took matters into her own hands. A few pitches into her at-bat, Parks drove the ball hard to left center field. Alexander, coming from second base, sped to third. She seemed to slow a little at the bag, then raced toward home plate. The throw from left field came up a little long, and Alexander scored the winning run! Lady Waves win, 1-0. The Lady Wave fans were jubilant.
With this big win, Midway secures a coveted berth in the TSSAA State Tournament. Lady Wave softball is becoming a dynasty. This is the third straight State Tournament appearance for Midway, and it’s the fourth in the past five years. This year’s first round game will be on Tuesday in Murfreesboro. The time and the opponent have yet to be determined.
This writer spoke to a fan of the Lady Waves tonight, and he had one request: PRAY FOR HANNAH’S ANKLE!