PREP SOFTBALL: Alleghany’s 4-run 7th ends Fort’s season

FORT DEFIANCE – None of the seniors wanted to leave the field.

After watching a 2-0 lead last six innings, Alleghany mounted a four-run comeback to end Fort Defiance’s softball season, 4-2, in the Region III quarterfinals and the seniors, who touted all year how this was more than a team but their family, made the moment last as long as possible.

Courtney Allman, whose pop out to right with Brooke Sigrist on first ended the game, squatted down along the third baseline, silent, and stared at the wet, red clay infield.

Jessica Hogle, who held the Mountaineers scoreless and allowed only one hit in four strong innings of work from the circle, stood next to her and stared out toward the scoreboard.  That’s all they did for the 10 minutes following the game.

Finally, sophomore Kendra Cash, sobbing loudly, broke the silence, grabbed Hogle and gave her a hug.

“I love you,” she said, before crying loudly next to the Fort Defiance dugout.

To think, they were just three outs away from moving into the Region III semifinals.

With freshman Payton Hill on the mound and coming off strong back-to-back innings of work, the Mountaineers’ Laura Peterson roped a single to left. Stephanie Smith drew a walk and Eli McCutchen’s drag bunt stayed in fair territory to load the bases with nobody out. Hill regained her composure to strike out Jennifer Simpson, but Doina Jeter — who hadn’t put a ball out of the infield all game — sent a two-run single to left. McCutchen beat Sigrist’s throw home on Kellee Persinger’s dribbler to second and Hollee Wartliner’s sacrifice fly made it four runs for the Mountaineers.

The Indians could not answer in the bottom half of the inning.

“You sit on a 2-0 lead for six innings and you think you got enough,” said Fort coach Max Hill. “That’s not enough. You gotta scratch sometime in those other innings. And we didn’t.”

The only times the Indians broke out the claws was in the bottom of the first. That’s when Sigrist, leading off, battled through an 11-pitch at-bat to reach base on an error. Tiffany Lockridge’s sacrifice bunt pushed her to second and a sac fly by Allman put her at third.

Sigrist touched home on a Hogle single. Payton Hill plated courtesy runner Chelsea McLaughlin with a single back up the middle. McLaughlin turned the third-base corner hard and slid under the tag at home to make it 2-0.

The Indians wasted Allman’s one-out double to center in the third and would only get one more hit the rest of the way.

Max Hill did not blame his team’s bats, but Mountaineer pitcher Stephanie Smith for stymieing the Indians’ offense.

“That girl pitched a good game,” he said. “She was throwing some gas at the end.”

Smith finished with eight strike outs.

With Allman still silent and staring off into the distance, Hogle, through tears and quick, short breaths, tried to sum up her varsity career as best she could.

“Leaving all my girls and my team?” she said. “It’s hard. I didn’t think it would be this hard.

“I don’t even know what to do. I’m just going to go home after school, I won’t come to practice. I’ll just go home.”

Finally, she left the field.

Allman wasn’t too far behind her, taking one last glance behind her before entering the dugout.