CUMBERLAND — After three innings, it was anyone’s game at Washington Middle School between Fort Hill and Mountain Ridge.
Leading 7-6 in the fourth, the Sentinels (7-6, 4-4 WestMAC) scored nine unanswered runs to win 16-6 in five innings.
“We got down 2-0 early and responded, I was happy we responded there,” Fort Hill head coach Jason McMahan said. “A lot of times, Senior Nights are emotional, so I’m really happy for my seniors and for my players that they got this W.”
Fort Hill loaded the bases with three hits, singles by Tatum Bishop and Nakiah Dunn and a Rory Martz double.
Dunn’s base hit drove in a run to increase the Sentinels lead to 8-6.
MaeLeigh Plummer sent a fly ball over the right fielder.
After clearing the bases, Plummer rounded third and scored standing up for an inside-the-park grand slam to push Fort Hill’s lead to 12-6.
“It was 7-6 for a couple innings, you could feel it could have went either way,” McMahan said. “She had been struggling a little at the plate, so to help herself in the box was exceptional.”
The Sentinels sealed the win in the fifth with four runs. Fort Hill again loaded the bases with three straight singles from Brynnan Wigger, Bishop and Alex Robertson.
Dunn drove in a run on an RBI single, then two passed balls and a groundout ended the game.
“Errors are killing us, one game we’re hitting the ball good, next game we’re fielding the ball good,” Mountain Ridge head coach Dave Tipton said. “We just gotta learn to put it together.”
The Miners (2-8, 1-5 WestMAC) struck first with two runs in the top of the first.
Aubreigh Wilson hit a low line drive to left for an RBI base hit, then Maci Beeman tripled on a fly ball to left center to put Mountain Ridge up 2-0.
The Sentinels answered with seven runs in the bottom of the first.
On a chopper to the shortstop, a high throw to first tied the game at 2.
A hit batter and two walks gave Fort Hill a 3-2 edge.
Plummer then sent a fly ball to right center for a three-run triple to push the lead to 6-2.
Bishop made it 7-2 on a base hit to shallow right.
“The team realized we can’t let this team hang around,” McMahan said. “We let them hang around, they’re gonna come up and get us and it’s gonna go the other way. So I think once they had the confidence and we had our runners on, hitters came through when they needed to.”
Over the next three innings, the Miners chipped away at the deficit with two runs in the second and third innings.
Macy Barth had two on in the second inning and hit a line drive single to center for two RBIs.
Chloe Haggerty also had two on in the third inning and sent a chopper down the first base line to drive in two runs, cutting Mountain Ridge’s deficit to 7-6.
“I felt like we came in to the game confident,” Tipton said. “I told them you were down 5-0 the other day and won. Let’s just take it one base at a time and score some runs.”
Plummer went five innings, allowing six hits, four earned runs and six walks with six strikeouts.
She drove in seven RBIs on two hits and was one of five Sentinels with multiple hits.
Bishop led Fort Hill with four hits, an RBI and a stolen base. Wigger, Dunn and Rory Martz each had a pair of hits.
Destinee Johnson started for Mountain Ridge and went 4 1/3 innings.
Johnson allowed 13 hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
While she was charged with 16 runs, only eight were earned.
“I thought she pitched fantastic, she was starting to get fatigued in the fourth,” Tipton said. “If we get rid of the errors, it’s 7-6 and we’re still playing.”
A big reason why was the Miners’ defense behind her.
Mountain Ridge was credited with four errors and had several other plays that could arguably be ruled errors.
Arguably the most consequential came in the fourth inning when the shortstop dropped a routine popup that loaded the bases and eventually led to Plummer’s slam.
Barth and Beeman each had two hits for Mountain Ridge.
Before the game, Fort Hill recognized Robertson, Lindsey Ternent and Alexis Heavner on Senior Day.
“They’ve been varsity level since they were freshmen,” McMahan said. “They’ve all made their contributions in their own way. They’ve always been a big part of this program and they’ll always have a home here at Fort Hill.”
The Sentinels head to Hancock on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Miners host Goretti on Monday at 3:30 p.m.