OH, SO CLOSE! Gladstone Girls Lose On Walk-Off
FISHERS, Ind.---The Gladstone Major Little League All-Stars (age 11-12) had their World Series dreams shattered with one swing of the bat Friday afternoon in suburban Indiianapolis. Polk City, Iowa, outfielder Maddy Simeons launched a solo home run over the center field fence in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving her team a dramatic, walk-off, 5-4 win over the gutsy Gladstone team. Iowa later won the regional championship, 6-0, over Omaha, Nebraska, and will represent our region at the Little League World Series in Portland, Oregon. But the Gladstone girls know it could’ve been them. Iowa took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a two-out RBI single by Abby Tuttle. But Gladstone came back with a run in the top of the third inning, and could have had more. Morgan Dawley drew a one-out walk, and Tia Schone rifled a shot to center field for a base hit. But after a video replay, it was shown that Dawley had not made it to second base before the throw from Simeons made it to the base. Addie Trombley followed with a hit, then Lauren Sundquist ripped one up the middle that got by the Iowa second baseman, sending the tying run to the plate. A strikeout, however, ended the inning. A wild pitch brought home the go-ahead run, then Maggie Mortensen followed with a double. Pepin walked the next batter, then Ava Koudelka came off the bench and bunted, and no one covered first base, so she was safe, loading the bases. Qwynn Nerem came off the bench and bunted in front of the plate, and that was the play Gladstone needed. Unfortunately, Sundquist shoveled a poor throw back to Pepin covering the plate, and everybody was safe, and Iowa had a 3-1 lead. Iowa pitcher Ava Husak got a two-out single to make it a 4-1 Iowa lead. Pepin recovered to get #3 hitter Lauren Ausborn to line out with the bases loaded. In the top of the fifth, Camryn Buckley came off the bench to rifle a base hit to get things going. Schone's shot up the middle bounced off the pitcher's body and went to shortstop, who got the force play on Buckley. Trombley followed with a base hit to bring home a run to make it 4-2, then Pepin launched a two-run double to tie the game at 4-4. Pepin gave up a walk and a hit in the bottom of the fifth, but Schone made a nice play on a ground ball to short to end the inning, keeping the game tied at 4-4. In the top of the sixth, Rylee Gerow hit a long fly ball that was caught in front of the center field warning track. After Reese Herioux grounded out, Camryn Buckley came through with her second base hit of the game, but Schone’s fly ball to left field held up long enough to be caught, ending the threat. In the bottom of the inning, Pepin got the first out on an infield pop up, and folks started thinking about the first extra innings game of the entire regional. But that didn’t happen, thanks to Simoens. Pepin took the loss, giving up seven hits, five runs (two earned), striking out three and walking three. Husak went the distance for Iowa, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits. She struck out six and walked two. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos, videos taken by Amy Sundquist. Also, hear pre-game interviews with Schone and Lauren Sundquist, and post-game comments with Manager Rick Pepin. |