Sophomore Susan Huddleston scores the winning run, with Lakin Singleton cheering on, as Ravenwood comes back to win 10-9 in the Region 6-AAA final.

RHS overcomes grand slam, 6-1 deficit to BHS to win region crown

 By CAROL STUART
For Brentwood Home Page
Ravenwood looked on the ropes against rival Brentwood after a third-inning grand slam following four straight errors put the Lady Bruins up 6-1.  But the Lady Raptors refused to stay down and ended up pulling out a 10-9 victory in the bottom of the seventh Wednesday at RHS to win the regional championship.

Senior third baseman Erica Graddy drove in sophomore pinch runner Susan Huddleston for the winning score with a one-out, bases-loaded hit deep to left field. An RBI single up the middle by winning pitcher Ashley Beyke had tied it 9-9 with no outs.

Ravenwood senior Erica Graddy drives in the winning run in bottom of the seventh. (Photos by Peg Fredi)

“We almost laid down to Brentwood, but then we just picked each other up and did what we had to do to bring out the win,” Graddy said.

Ravenwood, which also got a two-run homer from cleanup hitter Lindsay Thurman in the third, gets to host a sectional game at 5 p.m. Friday against Beech for a chance to return to state. Brentwood, now 1-7 against RHS this season, travels to Region 5-AAA champ Mt. Juliet.

“It’s an amazing comeback because that means we have home-field advantage Friday and that’s a really good thing,” Graddy said.

BHS looked almost unstoppable early in the game after Ravenwood’s defense fell apart with four straight errors to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead and load the bases in the third.

Bruins center fielder Kiersten Stanley then drilled the grand slam over the centerfield fence against Beyke, who had pitched a perfect game against McGavock just Monday.

“It was pretty tough to give up a grand slam right at the beginning of the game,” Beyke said.

The grand slam was the first at any level for Stanley and her second home run this season. She said she was suffering from a head cold and was “just thinking hit the ball so you can get on base and then get in the dugout as soon as possible.”

BHS mobs Kiersten Stanley after her grand slam.

She also threw a runner out at third base to end the fifth, and nearly doubled a runner off first base in the fourth with a throw from center.

“It was hard,” Stanley said about the turnaround in the game. “But it’s a team effort and you have to rely on your other teammates to get the job done, and we’re still playing Friday and that’s what matters. We still have a shot at state.”

After the big inning by Brentwood, Ravenwood climbed back in the game with three runs to pull within 6-4. Beyke, the No. 9 hitter, led off the third with a single and scored on a two-out error, then Thurman launched her home run with Lakin Singleton on base.   

But the Bruins jumped back out 9-4 in the fourth with a leadoff hit by Ashley Rahrer, a wild pitch, an RBI double from Kasey Smith, an error at second, a dropped third strike, and a two-run single to right by Carissa Schmittou.

“I knew we could do it -- that’s just the kind of team we are, comeback kids I guess,” RHS coach Kari Akin said. “My biggest concern was them getting down on the field. Once you get down on the field, it’s hard to bring them back.

“I just knew we had to get a few things rolling and we’d get going.”

After a scoreless fourth inning, RHS began chipping away at the lead – but only scored one run despite three hits in the fifth.

Akin decided to send in some “young blood to get something moving,” and sophomores Madison Zoeller and Sarah Green reached base twice as pinch hitters to help rally the Raptors in the sixth and seventh. (Under TSSAA softball rules, a player can re-enter a game once).

The top of the Ravenwood lineup – seniors Hannah Trainer, Graddy and Singleton – all had RBIs in the sixth after Zoeller walked and Green singled. RHS closed it to 9-8 and forced a pitching change.

Beyke, meanwhile, only allowed two runners in the final three innings.

After catcher Sarah Zarcone led off the seventh with a walk, Zoeller reached on an error and then Green and Beyke had back-to-back singles to tie it. Graddy stepped up to the plate.

“I just kind of took my hands to it, and it was kind of up to me and it just happened,” Graddy said.

Brentwood's Christina Schwarz tags out Kaitlyn Queen after Stanley's throw from center field.

“I think it really helps us right before we go into sectionals,” Beyke said of the comeback. “It really gives us a confidence boost because we all hit pretty well tonight.”

Akin said it was probably her team’s worst defensive performance, but that the Raptors “caught some terrible hops. Our second baseman caught one off the shoulder, one on the wrist. I just kept thinking, can we just get a decent break with a groundball somewhere? The third baseman had one hit hard and cuffed her. I just felt like it was kind of bad luck.”

The Ravenwood coach said people were asking around school Wednesday how many times the Raptors had played Brentwood. “I said this is the 8th time -- I’m not exaggerating, that’s not a joke. It really is the 8th time.”

 “It just gets annoying quite honestly because you see the same people over and over again,” Brentwood’s Stanley said. “But it also helps zone in on their pitching and you know when the players are up at bat where it’s going to go. So I think that probably helped with my grand slam because I’ve seen Beyke a lot of times.”

The Raptors have now beat the Bruins twice in the regular season, once in the Commando Classic, once in Brentwood’s Chik-Fil-A tournament, twice in the District 11-AAA tournament, and in the Region 6-AAA finals. Brentwood’s sole victory came in their winners’ bracket meeting in the district tourney.

Against Beech, Akin will play her high school team Hendersonville’s rival. Ravenwood hasn’t faced the Buccaneers this season, but lost to them on a no-hitter 1-0 in the sectionals when the current seniors were freshmen.  Mt. Juliet defeated RHS in the Chik-Fil-A in a close game in which Beyke took a shot in the ribs.

Kiersten Stanley connects on first grand slam.	Freshman Jordan Galloway winds up for pitch.
Lakin Singleton bats for Lady Raptors.	Lindsey Thurman is welcomed home after HR.
Kayla Ferrari covers first for BHS.	Carissa Schmittou sends ball into play.
Haylee Greer slides back into first on fly to center.	SS Hannah Trainer & 2B Erin Johnson signal 2 outs.
BHS catcher Carissa Schmittou receives pitch.	Sarah Zarcone is safe at second in 7th inning.
Zarcone crosses plate for the tying run, 9-9.	BHS almost catches Susan Huddleston in rundown.
Second baseman Erin Johnson throws ball to first.	Huddleston evades rundown attempt in 7th.