John Glenn softball rallies past Maysville

NEW CONCORD - With a steady drizzle falling for much of the afternoon, some in attendance Wednesday at John Glenn pondered why a softball game was being played at all.

Those who stayed witnessed a colossal struggle.

Visiting Maysville overcame a three-run deficit after five innings with a furious rally, only to watch the Muskies rally for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning off Panthers ace Madison Riggle to secure a 6-5 Muskingum Valley League win on Senior Day.

Trailing 5-4 entering the seventh after Riggle's go-ahead three-run homer, the Muskies' Lexi Baker legged out an infield single and took second on a sacrifice. Alli Hylton followed with a single to right field, moving Baker to third with one out, and Hylton took second on defensive indifference.

Kendyl Hatfield then laid down a bunt near the third-base line that forced Riggle to charge, but Baker beat the throw to the plate to tie the game and allowed Hylton to take third with one out. Another defensive indifference, this on a ground ball to third base, let Jessi Brown reach to load the bases.

That brought up Tetirick, who found a pitch up in the zone that she didn't miss.

"I haven't been hitting well, so I was just telling myself to believe in there, because my team needs me right now and I need to come through here," Tetirick said. "After Riggle's homer, I had to help my team out."

Despite the loss, Maysville (17-2, 12-2) stayed in first place in the league standings but saw its lead shrink to one game over John Glenn, Tri-Valley and Sheridan, who have three league losses each.

The Panthers host Philo on Thursday and visit Sheridan on Friday; the Muskies (16-4, 12-3) host Tri-Valley on Thursday in their only game remaining. The Scotties and Generals have two games remaining.

"We still have a chance," John Glenn coach Randy Larrick said.

Before the dramatic finish, Maysville was down to its last three outs before Sydney Shreve and Kaylie Farmer reached off reliever Erin Dickson to start the seventh. Riggle, who rarely got a pitch to hit in her first three at-bats, took little time in hitting a majestic home run to left field that cleared the fence by some 20 feet.

Two batters later, Rylei Miller doubled off the fence with one out but was unable to score as reliever Jaylin Pickworth re-entered to leave her stranded.

It proved to be a big turning point.

"We could have folded real easy," Maysville coach Greg Vaughn said. "We hung in there. Fortunately for us, we were in a situation where we could afford a slip-up. Give them credit, they made plays. I thought we hit the ball hard a few times and hit it right at them, but that's part of the game.

"They made the plays and got it in play when they needed to. I'm disappointed we lost, but I'm not disappointed in how we stayed in the game and battled."

Larrick praised his team's determination and all but echoed the sentiments of his counterpart.

"Like I told them after the game, that was the thing that impressed me the most," Larrick said. "We could have folded easily, but we kept battling and made it happen."

Riggle allowed six hits, walked two and yielded five earned runs in a complete game. Both walks came in the Muskies' four-run fourth inning, when the first five runners reached base.

Cameron Abella brought Maysville within 4-2 with an RBI single in the sixth.

Fields and Tetirick had two singles for John Glenn.

sblackbu@gannett.com

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Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR