Hanover softball's comeback not enough as Glen Allen wins 8-6

They were rocking along and totally in control.

Nothing, it seemed, could stay the Glen Allen Jaguars in their inexorable pursuit of victory.

By putting bat to ball with uncanny consistency and power, running the bases with controlled abandon, and relying on Jaidyn Tillman’s typically stellar pitching backed by deft defensive execution, Coach Stu Brown’s crew led Hanover 7-1 after five innings Monday on the Hawks’ home field.

A funny thing happened on the way to a run-rule rout, however.

In the bottom of the sixth on this cold, windy night that became even colder when the sun dipped below the horizon, the Hawks rallied for five runs, which brought hope where there had been little and energized their dugout to fever pitch.

Alas, the Jags held fast, scored once more in the seventh, and headed home with a tougher-than-they-would-have-liked, albeit well-earned and much needed, 8-6 victory.

“Too close for comfort,” Brown said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit to finish games. I love that we stuck together tonight, fought through adversity, and encouraged each other.

“We had a chance to blow it open early, we didn’t do so, but I liked that we stood behind each other and finished.”

Glen Allen’s Kenzie Hueston led off the top of the first with a walk and moved to second with Kenzie Mayfield smacked a single to right. Hueston ultimately scored on a passed ball, and Mayfield scored on Tillman’s single, also to right.

The Jaguars added four more runs in the third.

After Hueston reached base on an error and moved to third when Mayfield drilled a double down the right field line, Ila Goding cleared the bases with a home run into the woods behind the 190-foot center field wall.

“It was an outside pitch, middle in,” said Goding, a junior catcher. “I just went with the pitch and drove in my teammates. Put everything together and got the result I wanted.”

Tillman, a senior and LeMoyne College signee, followed with a dinger of her own, also to center field, to increase the Jags’ lead to 6-0.

“Ila had just hit a home run,” Tillman said, “so the mentality is that I’m a leadoff hitter at that point. It’s basically about being on base. If you try to hit a home run, you’ll never do it. It’ll come when it comes. It’s about making solid contact and getting on base.”

Layla Staton, who led off the home half of the third with a walk, ultimately scored on a wild pitch so that the Hawks (6-3) would at least avoid a shutout.

Glen Allen (6-4) added its seventh run in the fourth when Goding doubled to right, moved to third on an infield out, and scored on Caroline Jessie’s first-pitch single to left.

Life was great for the visitors. They were finding the gaps. Tillman was cruising in the circle.

“The rise ball was working early,” Tillman said. “A lot of hits (resulted in) routine ground balls.”

Then…

“(Their) batters started to catch up a little bit,” she added. “They started hitting it where we were not. The strike zone got a little bit tighter. It happens.”

As the Hawks rallied for five in the sixth, Tillman remained unbowed.

“Once the other team sees that you’re down, it’s the ball game,” she said. “You really have to take a deep breath. It takes a lot of time and practice. You have to stay in your zone and know you can push through.”

Lucy Fleisher and Kylie Towner led off the Hawks’ sixth with back-to-back singles. Haley Barden walked to load the bases, and Emma Kate Irwin followed with a sharp single up the middle to score Fleisher and Towner.

Willow Dickenson hit a sacrifice fly to deep left to score Barden. Destiny Bryant followed with a triple, also to left, to score Reese Patterson, who had entered as a courtesy runner for Irwin, and Staton, who reached base on a walk.

“We tried our hardest,” Goding said. “We just took it batter to batter and didn’t focus on the future. We closed it off and stopped them as soon as we could.”

Ahead 7-6 and suddenly in a nailbiter of a game with the determined, hungry-for-an-upset Hawks, the Jags summoned their final run in the top of the seventh. Ava Cunningham walked, moved to second on an infield out and third on a wild pitch, and raced home on another infield out.

“Kudos to Hanover,” said Brown. “They could have laid down knowing the pitcher they were facing. Jaidyn doesn’t give up many runs, but they put the barrel (of the bat) on the ball.”

The close call has meaning, Brown said, because of the lessons it teaches.

“Keep building, keep playing hard, keep picking each other up, and keep having a positive attitude,” Brown said. “When you don’t close ball games out, it becomes mental.

“We tell them, Keep chopping. Keep chopping. That tree will fall. Tonight, we kept chopping.”