Gallery by Karen Akers
New Richmond – Headliners Olivia Hylton, Paige Laxton, Paige Maynard and Olivia Barnett were all on display in Monday’s Class AA Region 3 championship opener.
Shady Spring’s supporting cast largely stole the show.
No. 3 and 5 hitters Hadley Wood and Emma Cyrus combined to drive in all six Shady runs as the Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 series with a 6-0 win over Wyoming East in New Richmond.
It was a strong continuation for a duo that fared well in the sectional tournament.
Wood launched a two-run home run in the third inning Monday and Cyrus finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs to lead the Shady assault.
“I was kind of in a really bad slump for awhile,” Cyrus said. “I was trying to put like every ounce of my body into my swing. I really practiced cutting down a lot before we went into tournament time. (Shady coach) Donald (Barnett) taught us to go in with a two-strike approach so we could hit a ball early on and I think that’s helped me tremendously especially since we’ve faced such good pitching.”
It was Cyrus who drew first blood in opening frame.
With two outs and a runner on, Shady catcher Kaylee Waddell hit what appeared to be a routine fly ball but a late break on the ball from the outfielder resulted in it dropping, putting two in scoring position for Cyrus. Her approached helped as she struck early with a two-run single.
Wood added her mark in the third after East committed the second of its five errors on the evening.
The senior first baseman launched a ball to right-center that just cleared the fence for a two-run blast, putting the visitors up 4-0.
Sticking with the trend of twos the Tigers capped their scoring in the fifth when Cyrus again answered the call. After a pair of singles from Paige Maynard and Olivia Barnett to open the frame, a one-out error loaded the bases and Cyrus’ single cushioned the Shady lead.
“They’re both fantastic kids with good hearts and good athletes,” Shady head coach Donald Barnett said of Cyrus and Wood. “They work hard and they’ve been in a spot where when it’s been their time to step up and shine they’ve been there and they’ve been ready. They’ve both been clutch with huge hits for us, especially in the postseason.”
Meanwhile, with the exception of catcher Kayley Bane, Wyoming East failed to get a beat on Maynard. Bane had two of the Lady Warriors’ three hits and was one of only two batters to put the ball in play in every at-bat – the other being Andrea Laxton.
It was a credit to Maynard who mowed through the East lineup, striking out 14 batters with the only real scoring threat coming in the second inning after an error at third base allowed Laxton to reach. She worked her way to third where she was stranded. East never had another runner reach second base.
“She just came in with a tenacity about doing her job and doing it well and she’s done that all year,” Barnett said of Maynard. “It’s hard to beat her attitude or work ethic and when you put all those things together and the stars lineup it’s pretty exciting to check out.”
“The difference in the game is they put the ball in play – HARD!” Wyoming East head coach Doc Warner said. “We didn’t put it in play. Their pitcher struck out half our lineup. It’s like when we had Holly (Brehm), half of the team would strikeout. With (Maynard), the bottom of the lineup can’t touch it. We need to bunt or something.”
The best-of-3 series now shifts to Shady Spring on Tuesday where the Tigers will have a chance to clinch their first state tournament berth in 10 years. Should Wyoming East win on Tuesday, the series would shift back to New Richmond for a winner-take-all contest on Wednesday.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
SS: 202 020 0 – 6 8 1
WE: 000 000 0 – 0 3 5
Pitching and catching – SS: Paige Maynard and Kaylee Waddell; WE: Olivia Hylton and Kayley Bane. WP: Maynard, LP: Hylton.
Hitting – SS: Paige Maynard 2-4, Olivia Barnett 1-3, Haley Wood 1-4 (HR, 2 RBI), Emma Cyrus 3-4 (4 RBI), Lacy Osborne 1-3; WE: Olivia Hylton 1-3, Kayley Bane 2-3.
