DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
On a record-breaking night for the Heritage Patriots, the home team sent off the seniors in style, smashing seven home runs and utterly destroying the DeKalb Barons with the help of a 13-run inning in a 23-11 non-conference victory.Â
“If you weren’t there, you missed a doozy,” said head coach Amanda Minchski.
Grace Guenthner had one of the biggest nights in program history with 14 total bases, including two home runs (both in the same inning) while hitting for the cycle with a little extra to prepare. All in all, she was 5 for 5 with eight RBI and four runs scored.
The game was actually highly competitive from the start and at one point, a ten-run rule win by the Patriots looked about as likely as the game being called off by a hurricane.
When Heritage came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning, they trailed 11-5, with the Barons hitting Lucy Buuck hard on a night when Danica Fuller was not in the circle for the home team.
It all turned around for the seniors in the fourth, however.
Kendall Zelt singled and Guenthner hit one out of the park to left field to start the rally, then Claire Bickel and Avi Washington followed with base hits before Lydia Schultz cranked one out to right, but the Patriots still trailed 11-10 at that point.
DeKalb got the second out of the inning and the game looked like it was going to be a thriller that came down to the last at-bats.
Instead, the Patriots strung together seven straight hits and scored eight more runs to take a commanding lead.
Zelt doubled a run in again and Guenthner hit her second long ball of the inning, then Bickel doubled and Washington hit her home run to dead center.
Guenthner came back up in the fifth and singled home two more runs to push the home team to 20 runs, then she stole second and scored on Washington’s second homer, a walk-off shot that triggered the run rule.
Lillie Scerep was the unfortunate victim for DeKalb of the Patriots’ barrage as she was forced to stay in the game and take the loss, giving up all 23 runs in 4.1 innings with 14 of them being earned. She struck out two and surrendered 24 hits to the Pats.
“My goal is that we always compete,” said Minchski. “We had to work through some adversity but yeah…it was really fun. Everyone was hitting so well I just left my play call sheet in my pocket and let them go to town.”
Schultz finished a perfect 4 for 4 with three RBI, while Washington had six runs batted in with her two home runs.