Hayes puts on grand show

By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CHAMPION -- Bottom-of-the-ninth-inning finales rarely are as grand as the one Champion High softball player Emily Hayes executed Tuesday.
With the Golden Flashes trailing Newton Falls 2-1 and a share of the Trumbull Athletic Conference at stake, Hayes came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded.
The Champion sophomore stroked Tigers ace Lindsey McCartney's 1-1 pitch to deep center field where it bounced off the yellow plastic fence topping for a walk-off grand slam an a 5-2 victory.
"I thought she [center fielder Lindsey Calland] was going to catch it until I saw it hit off the fence," Hayes said of her third homer of the season. "But it felt [off the bat] like the other ones."
Also tied game
Hayes also doubled in the sixth inning and drove in Kasey Karr, who had led off with a double, to tie the game at 1-1.
She was the sixth Flashes batter to face McCartney in the ninth inning. Jaclyn Carpenter reached on a fielder's choice and Karr advanced her to third base on a single.
After Jessica Carpenter walked, Hayes said she came to the plate "and prayed. I just felt real relaxed. You can't think too much or you don't do it."
Jaclyn Carpenter said there's no other teammate she'd rather see with the bat and game on the line.
"She pounds the ball," Carpenter said. "She always seems to come through."
Coach Cheryl Weaver agreed, calling her Champion's most improved player.
"If you looked at last year's stats to this year's stats, it's a world of difference," Weaver said. "I can't ask for a better kid."
Challenged
Hayes said her parents had challenged her to "hit one in the clutch so this is exciting. [McCartney] is better than most of the pitchers we face in the TAC."
McCartney scattered seven hits over the first eight innings and came within one out of keeping her Tigers in first place.
Although there are a few TAC games to be played, Champion's victory keeps the Flashes (14-4, 10-2) atop the league standings.
Hubbard (12-3, 9-2) also has two league losses while the Tigers 10-4, 8-3) dropped into third place.
"We knew they would come out strong, especially after Hubbard beat them [Monday]," Weaver said of last year's TAC champion Tigers.
Two opportunities
Twice, the Tigers were in position to win. They broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning when Courtney Pelyak, who injured her hand in the first inning diving back to first base, came back into the game and reached base on a fielder's choice.
After stealing second base, Pelyak was sacrificed to third by Calland and came home on a wild pitch by Karr.
Carpenter relieved Karr in the seventh, allowing no hits but giving up an unearned run in the ninth inning after Calland reached on an infield error.
Calland stole second and third, and came home when the ball was thrown to unguarded third base.
"I was really nervous when we were warming up, but once I got in there I was fine," Carpenter said. "We don't [switch] to often."
With two strong sophomore pitchers, Weaver said she made the change mostly to show the Tigers a change of pace.
williams@vindy.com