MALTA — When Ticonderoga won the Section VII Class C Championship, Addy Moore was asked what the team would do when facing adversity.
As they were undefeated, they had yet to taste defeat.
“I feel like we all are locked in mentally and know that we need to be there for each other,” Moore said at the time. “We have each other’s backs and it can carry us to the point where we need to win.”
That was on display Sunday as Ti rallied to defeat Stillwater, 4-3 in a NYSPHSAA Class C Regional Final.
“Credit to the girls for battling and not giving up,” Sentinel head coach Eric Mullen said. “They easily could have put their heads down late in the game being down 3-1.
“Instead they kept fighting and have earned themselves a trip to the Final Four. I’m extremely proud of these girls.”
After Ticonderoga recorded a first inning sacrifice fly by Addison Munson, the Warriors would plate three runs with a run an inning.
Ti starting pitcher Myleigh Drinkwine halted the damage in the fourth. While Stillwater got on the basepaths, she and her defense made sure nothing got serious.
When the sixth got going, the Sentinels got to work.
Moore singled to start the inning and would score on a Drinkwine double.
Drinkwine scored two batters later to tie the game on a Sophia Johndrow triple. Johndrow would get Ti the lead on a lead on a fielder’s choice by Belle Burroughs.
“Top of the sixth inning was crucial,” Mullen said. “We had gone through the line up twice so the girls were starting to get their timing down against (Warrior pitcher Eden) Resch. The trio of seniors really stepped up and met the moment (Addy’s single, Myleigh’s double, Sophia’s triple).
“Belle Burroughs had hit a hard liner back at the pitcher in her previous at-bat, so I told her during the timeout to just hit it hard somewhere and score Sophia. She hit a hard grounder between the second base bag and the fielder which was good enough.”
The work didn’t stop there as Drinkwine took the mound the record three outs to get the win.
After giving up a one out walk, Drinkwine induced a ground ball which became a fielder’s choice with the runner out at second.
The final out of the game came the way the inning started, with a pop fly to Burroughs.
“Getting the first out (flyout to center) in the bottom of the 7th was huge, especially with Resch being 3-3 on the day,” Mullen said. She is the type of player who can change the entire game with one swing of the bat.
“Myleigh has been great at closing out games the past two seasons and once again the defense steps up when needed to help.”
Capturing its second Final Four appearance in program history, Ti heads to Binghamton for the first time since 2016.
Their semifinal match is set for 10 a.m. on Friday, with the Sentinels awaiting their opponent.
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Ti 4, Stillwater 3
TCS 100 003 0 – 4 5 5
SHS 111 000 0 – 3 7 1
Drinkwine and Munson. Resch and Cogan. 2B- Drinkwine. 3B- Johndrow