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Belpre junior Kaitlen Bush delivers walk-off HR to beat Waterford

Belpre’s Kaitlen Bush (21) rounds third and heads home after hitting a three-run, walk-off home run against Waterford during Friday’s high school softball game in Belpre. Belpre won, 7-5. (Photos by Josh Hughes)

BELPRE –The game can turn around on just one swing. Kaitlen Bush knows that as well as anybody.

Her three-run, walk-off home run lifted Belpre in a 7-5 win over Waterford on Friday at Civitan Park, and it was the crescendo to a dramatic afternoon of action.

With teammates Madison Sprigg and the pinch-running Avery Varner on second and third, Bush strolled to the plate with one away. In her duel with Waterford’s Kari Carney, Bush fouled a pitch off her shin and took some time to shake it off. Just a couple pitches later, she forgot all about the pain and sent a Carney pitch deep into right field for the victory.

The win elevates BHS into sole possession of first in the Tri-Valley Conference, as Bush walked through the final at-bat.

“I was pretty nervous going up to bat because we were down. We were wanting to beat Waterford. That was one of our goals this year,” she said. “When I hit my shin that first time, I was pretty nervous, but then, I saw my outside pitch and just swung at it. We’re knocking off a lot of teams we wanted to knock off, and now we’ve got Eastern coming up, so hopefully we beat them too.”

Waterford’s Kari Carney delivers a pitch during Friday’s high school softball game against Belpre.

That Eastern game is another crucial TVC contest, as Eastern’s Friday loss to Southern put Belpre in the conference’s driver seat. How Belpre got to this point was a test of endurance. Carney didn’t make it easy on the Golden Eagles, as she lost after 95 pitches.

As if a walk-off win wasn’t dramatic enough, Carney set herself up for history in the early going. Through three innings, she was perfect.

Vexing Belpre batters, she went through the entire lineup the first time only allowing one ball to leave the infield (when Bella Padovini flew out to right for the first out of the third). Then, the next time through the order saw Belpre finally make meaningful contact.

That was after Cara Taylor accounted for both Waterford runs to that point. Laykyn Jones bunted in the first inning, scoring Taylor from third.

Her next run came after a single a couple innings later.

She stole second and third over the next couple batters, and in the process of stealing third, catcher Taylor Parker had trouble securing the ball for a throw to the base.

That caused her to lose her grip, as the ball slipped away from her and went to the backstop. Heads-up baserunning from Taylor saw her take home, and Belpre had a hole to dig from. Aside from that miscue, Parker corralled wild pitches and kept Waterford at bay when called upon. She threw Katie Lowe out at second to limit the damage in the first inning.

Still, Belpre had some work to do.

Starting pitcher Carrissa Sprigg got some help and gave her team the lead, as she rocketed a ball to center for a three-run round-tripper. The hits by Madison Sprigg and Bush energized the Belpre dugout, and Carrissa Sprigg’s homer gave the game new life.

Even after Taylor scored on a wild pitch to tie the game in the fourth, Belpre responded. Parker came through, sending Maggie Johnson, who previously reached on an error, home with a base hit.

Mackenzie Suprano scored on an RBI double from Taylor, and she also came around again on another wild pitch. In total, Taylor notched a game-high four runs, but it wasn’t enough. In the win, Belpre improved to 7-4 and 5-1 in conference play.

“I had complete focus from Carrissa on the mound, and she went the distance,” head coach Stephanie Evans said. “The defense finally woke up, and then our bats came alive. She carried us in the beginning, and then the rest of the team joined in. Kaitlen put the exclamation point on it. We have to keep winning. We have two big games with South Gallia tomorrow, and we have to come out focused.”

Waterford fell to 8-7, but head coach Doug Baldwin expected a tough showing from the home team.

“That was a classic game. They probably outhit us. It was close, and we took advantage of every opportunity we got,” Baldwin said. “I think just about everybody we got on scored, but we didn’t get enough people on-base. They got people on and got a couple hits that went out. That’s the difference of the game.”

Baseball: Waterford 11, Belpre 2

Waterford was on the run, and it didn’t stop. In the Wildcats’ 11-2 win over Belpre on Friday at Civitan Park, head coach Doug Huffman’s crew racked up 13 steals en route to the victory. Starting pitcher Zavier Heiss helped his own cause, going 3 for 5 with a double and two stolen bases. Mason Heiss also had his back. He recorded a game-high four stolen bases and went 3 for 5 with a double and another game high of four runs batted in.

The game took a bit before things got out of control, however. Even though Waterford tallied four runs in the first three innings, Belpre answered in the home half of the third. Lucas Fullerton and starting pitcher Christopher Copen knocked in RBIs, as Matt Deems and Noah Fullerton came in to score, respectively.

That was it, though. The Wildcats added on more than enough insurance to take the win by notching a trio of runs in the fifth and sixth with one more in the seventh for good measure. Waterford received scoring hits from Jacob Huffman, Mason Heiss, Cole Hansell, Tyson Moore and Wade Brooker.

Contact Josh Hughes at jhughes@newsandsentinel.com

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