NEW MARKET — It’s something that will be talked about for a very long time among Southmont softball fans, and for all of the right reasons. Monday in the Mounties hosted the Class 2A Sectional 44 Tournament and played host to the Parke Heritage Wolves. Trailing 6-0 in the bottom of the sixth with their season on the line used a six run sixth to even things up at 6-6. If that wasn’t exciting enough Kami Dinius then in the bottom of the seventh sent the Southmont fans into a frenzy with laser two-run home run and the Mounties completed a monumental comeback to defeat the Wolves 8-6.
“This is what softball is all about,” longtime Mountie coach Dan Taylor said. “What we did with this comeback is something we haven’t been able to all year. We’ve been playing better softball as of late and this game was just a total team effort. These girls showed no quit and they believe in each other. This is what great teams can do and I’m so proud of each and every one of them.”
The rally got started in the bottom of the sixth when senior Dara Watson legged out a lead-off triple. From that moment on it was all Mounties. In that sixth they sent 10 girls to the plate and had six hits. The best part about the Mountie comeback was that a majority of the Southmont rally came with two outs. With the bases loaded and leading hitter in sophomore Jenna Grino up to bat, Grino came through in the clutch with a bases-clearing double to even the score. Dinius who had made hard contact all night long but up until her home run in the final at-bat was 0-3. That didn’t matter one bit to Dinius as she stepped up to the plate with confidence and delivered the biggest hit of the season for the Mounties.
The Wolves jumped on the board with a run in the first and then controversy struck in the fourth. With the Wolves already having one run in, a play at the plate looked to go the Mounties way but the home plate umpire ruled the Wolves Maddy Downs safe. After Addison Frazier drew a walk, pitcher Emma Norman cranked a two-run home run to put the Wolves up 5-0. The adversity didn’t phase Taylor or his team and they stuck the course to pull out the win
“Even the girls who weren’t getting on base like Kami, she said count me in,” Taylor said. “These girls showed great poise after that inning didn’t go our way. Even after that they were even-keel and didn’t let get to them. We played phenomenal defense after having an error to begin the game. Mallory Mason and Chelsea Veatch both played fantastic along with our entire infield.”
Grino who led the Mounties with a .493 average during the regular season until her game-tying double was 0-2. Throughout the entire game Grino as she has all season had confidence in herself and in her team that they could come through.
“It was a crazy game to be apart of for sure,” the sophomore said. “I knew we could still come back and we all just took it one at-bat at a time. No one person did everything tonight, we did this together as a team and that’s what makes it feel that much more special. This group, we’ve all played together for so long now. We trust each other no matter what situation we’re put in and it paid off in the end.”
Offensively Southmont (9-16) tallied 11 hits, eight of which coming in the final two innings. Mallory Mason paced the Mounties with a perfect 4-4 night with two doubles. Anna Stokes has a pair of hits. Catie Himes,Chelsea Veatch, Dinius, Watson and Grino all had one hit each. On the mound sophomore Kyndale Rice picked up the win. Rice went the distance throwing seven innings giving up seven hits and just two earned runs. While she didn’t strike out a batter, she had help all night from the Mountie defense.
With the win Southmont advances to tonight’s semi-final against North Putnam. Taylor said how his girls are going to embrace the challenge against a powerful Cougar team.
“When you get to the tournament, you’re just trying to survive until the next day,” he said. “We want to continue to play and we gave ourselves that chance. We’re going to take our shot and leave it out on the field.”
South and the North Putnam will play in game two of the evening on Tuesday and will get underway at approximately 7:30.
