Thursday’s game against the Coalfield Lady Jackets had a lot of hype surrounding it. It was a match-up between the first place team in District 3A (the Lady Waves) and the first place team in District 4A (Coalfield). It was also a match-up between two of the finest pitchers in the State of Tennessee. Midway senior Hannah Colyer and her accomplishments should be well known to any faithful SORSN reader. Among many other honors, Hannah is a two time All-State pitcher. She has also pitched in three straight State Tournaments. Now, we at SORSN don’t usually mention opposing players by name, but Coalfield’s freshman pitcher deserves to be given our recognition. Lindsey Fadnek is a great player in her own right, and was named to last year’s All-State Team as a pitcher.
Along with all the anticipation of a great game, a big crowd came to “The Hill”. Games like this don’t always live up to the hype. This one did.
In the first inning, Colyer fired up the Midway fans by throwing three straight strikeouts to retire the side. The Lady Waves also went down in order in the bottom of the frame.
Midway third baseman Michele Walden was moved to injured reserve after suffering a broken finger in Tuesday’s game against Webb. She’s listed as day to day. Starting in Walden’s place was freshman Hali Morris. Morris didn’t show any nerves in this big game. She made a nice catch, avoiding a collision with a teammate and recording the first out of the second inning. After another Colyer strikeout, things got dicey for the Lady Waves. Coalfield hit a single up the middle to put a runner on base. Then, they hit another one. With two runners on, however, Colyer came back with a big strikeout to end the threat. In the bottom of the second, three more Midway batters were retired in order.
In the top of the third inning, Coalfield began to try to bunt on the Lady Waves. The Midway defense was calm and sharp, turning the first two bunt attempts into outs at first. Colyer threw in another strikeout to bring the Lady Waves back up to bat. Fadnek, however, tossed three more strikeouts to retire the Midway batters in order. After that, many spectators began to keep a running count, as the two pitchers continued to match each other strikeout for strikeout.
In the top of the fourth inning, the situation became perilous for the Lady Waves. Coalfield’s first batter singled. Then, a Midway error on a Lady Jacket bunt attempt put a second runner on base. Colyer came back with a strikeout, and the next batter popped out to Taylor Narramore at second base. Midway was not out of the woods, however. The Coalfield runner at second was able to steal third, and the Lady Jackets had runners on the corners. The Midway fans were able to breathe a sigh of relief, though, when Colyer struck out the next batter to get the Lady Waves out of danger. In the bottom of the fourth, Midway finally got its first runner on base. Center fielder Krystal Rue reached on a Coalfield error. Three more Fadnek strikeouts kept the Lady Waves from capitalizing on the mistake.
The fifth inning was scoreless for both teams, as all batters went down in order.
In the sixth, the tension continued to build. The first Coalfield batter in the inning was struck out by Colyer, but the next two Lady Jackets were able to put the ball in play. Fortunately for Midway, both were put out by Lady Wave fielders. Catcher Alex Coffman narrowly avoided a collision with a teammate to catch a pop-up, then Morris threw to first baseman Kati Alexander on a grounder. Midway was once again put out in order in the bottom.
Coalfield got another hit to start the seventh inning. Colyer answered with two strikeouts, then fielded a grounder and threw to Alexander to get the third out. The meat of Midway’s batting order was up in the last inning of regulation play. A run in this inning would mean a Lady Wave victory. Fadnek, however, had other plans. She struck all three Midway batters out.
Colyer started extra inning play with a strikeout. A pop out to Morris and another strikeout brought Midway back up to bat. Two Midway batters put the ball in play in the bottom of the eighth, but both were out at first. Another Fadnek strikeout ended the inning.
Colyer struck out another Lady Jacket to start the ninth. The next Coalfield batter put a scare into the Midway faithful by connecting for a big shot to center field. Thankfully, Rue backed up and measured the ball for the catch and the out. Colyer hurled another strikeout for out number three. Fadnek showed her first sign of vulnerability in the bottom of the ninth inning, when she walked Hali Morris to start the Midway at-bat. Fadnek quickly recovered, however, striking out the next Lady Wave batter. On the next batter, Morris stole second base on a Fadnek pitch that was in the dirt. When the Coalfield catcher threw down to second on the play, the throw was high and went into center field. That allowed Morris to take third as well. Midway now had its first runner of the game in scoring position. After a pop out to the infield, Morris remained on third with two outs. At this point, the tension on “The Hill” was the highest it had been all season. Under those conditions, senior Krystal Rue stepped to the plate. Rue proceeded to thrill the Midway crowd, when she connected with a high pop-up that was headed right for “no man’s land”, between second base and center field. With two outs, Morris was running on contact. Would the center fielder get to the ball and make the catch? Could the shortstop get back to it in time? Morris crossed home plate while the ball was still climbing skyward. As the ball began its descent, it became obvious that only the shortstop might be able to make the play. It looked like it could turn into an over-the-shoulder Sportscenter highlight catch. But, no! The ball skimmed off the top of the shortstop’s glove! As the ball rolled in the center field grass, Rue stopped at second base, and the rest of the Lady Waves poured out of the dugout. Final score: Lady Waves 1, Coalfield 0.
What a game it was. Both pitchers were fantastic. Colyer and Fadnek threw for 17 strikeouts apiece. At the plate, Rue was the hero of the game for Midway. She had the only hit for the Lady Waves, and it was a walk-off RBI. Also highly commendable was the play of freshman Hali Morris. She performed well under pressure, after spending a lot of time on the bench this season. Morris made several plays on defense and scored the only run of the contest. With this victory, the Lady Waves finished the regular season on a high note. Next week, the post season will begin. On Monday, the Midway girls will be at Grace Christian to start the District Tournament. They will play either Grace or Greenback at 5 PM.