District 2-4A: Rutherford falls on sixth inning home run

SPRINGFIELD — Kieifi Myrick and her teammates on the Wakulla softball team would not be denied a District 2-4A tournament title Thursday night.

Myrick hit a solo home run with one out in the sixth inning to break a tie and lift the War Eagles to an 8-7 victory over Rutherford in the title game at the Vera Shamplain Sports Complex.

Rutherford (12-11), which was the visiting team on its home field as the No. 2 seed facing the regular-season champion War Eagles, will play West Florida Tech on Wednesday in the Region 1-3A quarterfinals. Wakulla will host Gulf Breeze.

Myrick was indomitable at the plate, posting the home run, two doubles and a single in a 4-for-4 effort. After Rutherford rallied with two runs in the top of the sixth, Myrick smashed a shot over the center-field wall in the bottom of the inning to put Wakulla ahead to stay.

Myrick admitted that she envisioned being the hero before she stepped to the plate.

“Yes, it always goes through your mind, but you try not to think about it,” she said. “As a senior, I needed to step up.”

Rutherford coach David Barron praised the War Eagles’ third baseman, who has signed to play at Florida A&M next year.

“We try to work her away, away because she’s so powerful and so strong,” Barron said. “She can hit. She’s a great player, and she’s probably the best we’ve seen all year. It seemed like every time she was at the plate we couldn’t pitch around her. We were just one pitch short.”

The teams traded momentum throughout the contest. Rutherford seized a 5-0 lead in the second inning, only to watch that lead wilt in the third as Wakulla pushed four runs across. The War Eagles (17-6) added three more in the fourth for a 7-5 lead, but Rutherford evened the score with a pair of runs in the sixth.

“Like I told the girls, that was fun,” Barron said. “We fought our guts out. … We didn’t lose as much as come up one inning short.”

Rutherford sent 10 batters to the plate in the second and chased Wakulla’s starting pitcher, Breonna Hill, after just 1 1/3 innings. After Gina Mathes scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead, Kaylyn Julian had an RBI single. Becca Taylor then drove in a run when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Skylar Taggart capped the inning with a two-run single to left field.

Wakulla’s Brooklyn Tindall and Sarah Gregory had consecutive two-run singles in the fourth to pull the War Eagles within a run at 5-4. Wakulla tallied three more runs in the fourth when Tindall rapped out a two-run single and later scored on a fielding error.

The Rams battled back in the sixth to tie the game at 7-7 when Paige Williamsen scored on a wild pitch and Taggart’s groundout to shortstop enabled Taylor to score from third.

Williamsen and Taggart each had two hits for Rutherford. Gregory had three singles, and Tindall added two for the War Eagles.

• Rutherford       050 002 0 — 7 9 1
• Wakulla             004 301 x — 8 11 2
• Taylor (L) and Moses; Hill, Cooper (W, 2) and Rivers. HR: Wakulla (Myrick). 2B: Rutherford (Moses), Wakulla (Myrick 2).