By Mike McClure
The last time the Laurel and Sussex Academy varsity softball teams met, the Seahawks handed the Bulldogs a 13-8 home loss. Since then, Laurel won five straight including a 5-3 victory over top-seeded St. Mark’s while Sussex Academy won three of its last four including playoff wins over Ursuline and Polytech. Saturday’s state quarterfinal match-up lived up to expectations with the Seahawks scoring a run in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with an 8-7 home win.
Laurel senior Baylee “LB” Lynch started the scoring with an inside-the-park home run in the top of the first inning. Sussex Academy’s Ashlyn Troxler walked before being thrown out trying to steal second in the bottom of the inning.
Eighth-grader Journey Hearne led off the second inning with a home run to extend Laurel’s lead to 2-0. Kathryn Calloway drew a walk but was thrown out at third following a single by Braidyn Hoffman.
Sussex Academy’s Taegen Forester scores the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a wild pitch as teammate Grayce Glover looks on. Glover drove in four runs with a grand slam in her team’s 8-7 win.
Bulldogs’ freshman pitcher Mon’Shayla Louis retired the side in the bottom of the second. Sussex Academy struck in the third, starting with a one-out single by Audrey Snyder. Taegen Forester walked, Ashlyn Troxler reached on an infield single to load the bases, and Delainie Monitzer was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Laurel got a force out at the plate for the second out before Grayce Glover socked a grand slam for a 5-2 lead.
Laurel answered with a pair of runs in the fourth as Hearne drew a leadoff walk and Calloway hit a two-run home run to cut the lead to one.
Hoffman took over on the mound for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fourth and worked a 1-2-3 inning. In the top of the fifth, Lynch walked and moved to third on a sac bunt by Khloe Shockley, Bailey Ullman, and Ashlyn Ullman each walked to load the bases. Sussex Academy got a force out at the plate before Calloway singled in a pair of runs. Jai’Lah Shockley added an RBI double down the left-field line to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 7-5.
The Seahawks came back with a two-out rally in the bottom of the inning. Monitzer and Caroline White each singled and Glover walked to load the bases. Danica Bergh delivered a two-run single before Laurel threw a runner out to end the inning with the score tied at 7-7.
Laurel was unable to regain the lead in the top of the seventh, giving Sussex Academy one more chance to score before the game went into extra innings. Forester reached in an infield single, Troxler put down a bunt and was ruled safe at first for a single, and Monitzer hit a bloop single to right to load the bases. The Bulldogs recorded an out on a popup, but Forester came home on a wild pitch for the winning run (8-7).
Monitzer collected a pair of hits, Glover had four RBIs, and Bergh drove in a pair for the Seahawks. Callaway collected two hits including a home run and drove in four for Laurel.
