Upper Dublin walks off against William Tennent
UPPER DUBLIN >> Upper Dublin made game-winning plays in the top and bottom of the seventh inning against William Tennent Thursday afternoon.
In the top of the final frame with the score tied, the Cardinals intentionally walked a batter to load the bases with one out. Freshman pitcher Kyla Garrison recorded back-to-back strikeouts – her 12th and 13th strikeouts of the game – to keep the score tied.
In the bottom of the seventh, catcher Madden Reilly got hit by a pitch with one out and Paige Foley entered as a courtesy runner. Kaitlyn Small ripped a double to the right centerfield gap and Foley scored from first to lift the Cardinals to a 3-2 win over William Tennent at Upper Dublin High School.
“It was just the perfect pitch for me,” Small, who went 2-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases and the game-winning RBI, said.
Garrison earned the win in the circle and recorded the 100th strikeout of her career. Across seven innings she struck out 13 batters to one intentional walk and allowed two runs on seven hits. Her back-to-back strikeouts to end the top of the seventh came against Tennent’s third and fourth batters in the lineup.
“I was kind of nervous,” Garrison, who had success with her rise and working the inside of the plate, said of the seventh inning, “but I just had to trust that I could get them out.”
“That was exactly where we wanted to be,” William Tennent coach Rich Clark said. “(No. 3 hitter Victoria Colagreco) is our top hitter, hitting .643 for the year. It’s just one of those things that didn’t come through that time. Their pitcher was just dominating with her rise pitch. Have to give credit to the pitcher.”
Upper Dublin (8-4, 5-3 SOL American) took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Anna Levin and Kaitlyn Zacharia had back-to-back two-out singles to score runs and put the Cardinals ahead early.
That score held until the top of the fifth inning. William Tennent (6-2, 6-1 SOL Freedom) had three consecutive two-out hits – a Morgan Kocher single, Anna Coulter RBI double and Colagreco RBI single – to tie the game, 2-2.
“We played very well against a very good team,” Clark said. “Both teams executed their plays extremely well. It’s a tough-fought game and it could have gone either way. I’m very proud of my girls. They should keep their heads up.”
Carly Nydick was impressive in the loss. She threw all 6.1 innings for Tennent and allowed three runs on seven hits. She struck out four batters to one walk. She pitched around a leadoff double and left the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth after the Panthers tied the game at two.
“Carly was a workhorse out there today,” Clark said, “especially in this heat. She ran into some tough situations as well with runners on base, bases loaded, and was able to battle out of it. Very proud of her on this kind of a day. She threw a ton of pitches and did really well and never got down. The girls on the team were helping pick her up in between innings.”
Upper Dublin 3, William Tennent 2
William Tennent 000 020 0 – 2
Upper Dublin 200 000 1 – 3
WP: Kyla Garrison 7 IP 13 K 1 BB 7 H 2 R
LP: Carly Nydick 6.1 IP 4 K 3 BB 7 H 3 R
2B: WT: Anna Coulter, Morgan Kocher. UD: Kyle Garrison, Kaitlyn Small.
