By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — The Ruston High Lady Bearcats (10-13, 2-7 District 2-5A) won in dramatic fashion Tuesday night at home, beating Ouachita (15-14, 3-6 District 2-5A) by a final score of 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth inning on a walk-off single by freshman by Skylar Bowers to score sophomore Jayla Spears from second base.
The Lady Bearcats’ patience at the plate paid off for the Lady Bearcat batters as the team drew a total of 12 walks on the night, including most in the first two innings.
Ruston’s win will keep its playoff hopes alive, as the Lady Bearcats came into the game at No. 27 in the power rankings, needing to finish the regular season at No. 26 to make the postseason.
“I’m incredibly proud of the girls tonight,” Ruston High head coach Lauren Garvie said. “Rilee started off very well in the circle and came off the field and said “I’m feeling good” — I love that competitiveness in her. In truth though I’m even more excited about being able to go from senior to freshman (Bowers) in the circle and see the her do her job. We saw a lot of young kids like Aubrey Stoehr and Spears get balls hit hard at them and yet still make plays. On top of that, Spears had a slump recently after starting so hot, but tonight she went up to the plate, earns two RBIs and gets to a full count on two outs in the eighth and pulls through with a rope down the first baseline — then Bowers comes up and does her job of putting the ball in play. As a whole, I could probably go on and on, in girls like Jaiden Feeheley who I have constantly asked to step up and put a lot of pressure on this shoulders.
“I know every one of our coaches is proud of our team tonight.”
The Lady Bearcats put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning after loading the bases and drawing three consecutive walks for a 3-0 lead.
After Ouachita added a run in the top of the second inning, junior Kyndal Fobbs would score on a passed ball during senior Morgan Foster’s at-bat, who ended up drawing her second of three walks on the night to extend the lead to 4-1. Senior Abby Holton would then hit a ground ball to shortstop and score senior Rilee Atwood from third base to go up 5-1. Spears would get then single with two outs and bring home Holton and Foster, putting the Lady Bearcats up 7-1.
After a scoreless third inning for both teams, Ouachita would get four runs in the top of the fourth and another run in the top of the fifth inning to cut Ruston’s lead to 7-6. Neither team would score in the sixth inning, and the Lady Lions would get another run in the top of the seventh to tie the game and send it into extras.
Freshman Aubrey Stoehr and Spears both finished with two hits apiece. Holton batted two runners in for scores, as did Spears.
Ruston will return to action for a District 2-5A matchup Thursday, April 10, at West Monroe.
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