Chalk it up to sheer luck or to sheer clutch, there’s just something different about the seventh inning when it comes to the Juanita High softball team.
The Rebels pulled off a thrilling 2-1 win over Eastside Catholic in the 3A District II semifinals on Thursday at Southwest Athletic Complex in Seattle, scoring both runs in the top of the seventh frame.
“We seem to be a team that likes to come back, for some reason, in the last inning,” said Juanita coach Traci Odegard. “I told them, ‘Against good teams, you’ve got to do it earlier.’ We’re going to start seeing a lot better teams, and so we’ve got to start early on it.”
Juanita (19-5) gave up a run in the bottom of the first inning and stranded 10 baserunners before finally scoring in the seventh inning as Kristina Warford doubled to drive Brynn Radke home.
Warford with an RBI double to tie the game. pic.twitter.com/TLQ4ZPHJVp
— John William Howard (@JowardHoward) May 20, 2016
Juanita takes a 2-1 lead, one out top of the seventh. pic.twitter.com/rBhQZwbz9Z
— John William Howard (@JowardHoward) May 20, 2016
Briar Swayne batted Warford home a few minutes later for the go-ahead run.
Lisa Nelson went the distance for Juanita, pitching seven innings with four hits, one walk and 12 strikeouts. It’s the fourth consecutive game in which Nelson has finished with double-digit strikeout stats.
In two games at the district tournament, Nelson has 30 strikeouts in 14 innings pitched.
“She’s helping us a ton and keeping us in all these games,” Odegard said. “We’ve just got to help her out offensively a little bit sooner. She’s doing great, exactly how I expect her to be.”
The Crusaders (13-9) drop into the fourth-place game against West Seattle on Friday, May 20.
Juanita advances to the district title game against Lake Washington, scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Southwest Athletic Complex.
