COVINGTON, Ga. — One swing off the bat of Anslee Saunchegraw put the Lady Eagles in sole possession of first place in Region 8-AAAA as Eastside defeated East Forsyth in walk-off fashion Tuesday night to stay undefeated.
What ended up being a pitchers’ duel between the Lady Eagles’ Kylee Lawrence and the Lady Broncos’ Cadence Alberty sent the game into extra innings with a 1-1 score.
After Lawrence induced a quick one-two-three result in the top of the eighth inning, it set up Eastside with another chance to win it after stranding the winning run at third base in the prior frame.
With one out, Donee Morain reached base on a four-pitch walk. Two batters later, Saunchegraw stepped up to the plate with two outs in the inning.
Facing a 0-2 count, Saunchegraw ripped a ball into the left-center gap to score Morain all the way from first. Morain slid into home to seal the win as the Lady Eagles’ dugout erupted.
In a game in which runs were at a premium, head coach Heather Wood discussed her team’s approach at the plate in the final inning.
“For most of the game our offense was not really in sync,” Wood said. “I felt like each at-bat we were getting better. Once we relaxed, [because] we were anxious earlier in the game. We knew this was such a good moment and offensively we knew we needed to execute.”
Prior to scoring the second run on its final at-bat of the game, Eastside actually scored its first run on the team’s first at-bat of the game.
After Lawrence faced the minimum in the opening frame, Morain led off the game with a rocket over the center field wall for a solo home run.
Outside of Saunchegraw and Morain, the Lady Eagles would not have been in the position to win the game if not for the performance of Lawrence on the mound, too.
Lawrence pitched the entire eight innings for Eastside and struck out 11 Lady Broncos while only allowing one hit, one unearned run and three walks.
The recent stretch of play from Lawrence has impressed Wood, who spoke about the winning pitcher following Tuesday’s game.
“We already knew the potential she [Lawrence] had. She has progressed in every single game and has really come through for us,” Wood said. “This was a big game — [it was] a pitchers’ duel today. They have an excellent No. 1 pitcher. I thought we were well-matched with them today.”
East Forsyth scored its only run of the game in the top of the third inning.
With a runner on third base, the Lady Broncos scored on an error in the outfield for the Lady Eagles.
Along with Saunchegraw, Morain and Lawrence, Allie Vaughn and Savanna Griffin came away with base hits in the contest.
The win moves the Lady Eagles to 13-0 on the season as they now reside in first place in Region 8-AAAA with a 6-0 record. Eastside will have a day off before getting back into region play with a matchup with the Cedar Shoals Lady Jaguars (1-13, 0-6) at home on Thursday, Sept. 12.
In the first meeting between the two teams on Aug. 15, the Lady Eagles won 16-0 in a rout.
