There is nothing like the feel of crushing a softball to calm a ballplayer’s nerves.
Foothills Outlaws Ashleigh Smith hit a walk-off two-out double to bring in Brooklyn Knoch to give them an 8-7 victory over the Calgary Nose Creek Bullets in the U12 B provincial championship game July 10 in Calahoo.
“I had two strikes on me and the third pitch came down and I crushed it and it landed before the fence over the centre-fielder’s head,” Smith said.
“I was thinking if I get another strike, I have to hit it.”
She knew from the get-go it was a solid blast.
“I could feel it in the bat because I think I hit the sweet spot,” she said. “My first-base coach said keep going, keep going so I knew it was pretty good.”
The Bullets seemed locked and loaded to win the provincial championship with a 7-4 lead going into the bottom of the seventh — the final inning.
“I think most of us were worried, but when Brooklyn Muir got a single and just kept running, we started feeling better,” Smith said.
The speedy Muir hit a one-out single, then Tasia Miller got on with an error and when Foothills’ Sara McLellan was hit by a pitch, suddenly the bags were full of Outlaws.
Knoch knocked in Muir with a single keeping the bases loaded at 7-5.
The alert Miller closed the gap to 7-6 when she crossed the plate from third base on a passed ball.
The Outlaws tied the game at 7-7 on a groundball out by Hannah Vallell, which scored McLellan and advanced Knoch to second.
They won the final on Smith’s blast to the wall.
Outlaws coach Michelle Knoch admitted she was worried Smith’s shot would get hauled in by the Bullets’ centre-fielder.
“I was holding my breath that their centre-fielder wouldn’t catch it and I saw it was to the side and over her head,” Knoch said.
She did not ever lose hope.
“Our motto behind is “believe” as anything can happen in the game of softball,” she said.
They made believers of the fans in Calahoo.
The Outlaws ran the table in Calahoo, going 6-0 in the sometimes rain-soaked tournament.
