Gallery by Karen Akers
The separation between Shady Spring and Independence has been mere inches this season.
Wednesday night at Larry T. Poe Field in Coal City a couple of inches made all the difference when the two teams met in their Class AA Region 3, Section 2 showdown.
After Kaylee Waddell’s liner fell for a double inches short of a diving catch, Paige Maynard lifted a fly ball to right.
With the wind and sun wreaking havoc, the ball fell just out of reach of the right fielder allowing Waddell to race home with the game’s only run.
It was the only run that Maynard needed as the Penn State signee surrendered one hit and struck out 12 batters to shutout the Patriots 1-0.
“It felt awesome out there tonight. I love playing (Independence) because we are both competitive teams,” Maynard said. “It is really fun and a great challenge.”
After going 15 scoreless innings with the Patriots, pitching 14 of them, in their final regular season meeting, Maynard wanted to make the one-run lead stand.
“I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t get ahead of myself. I had to focus pitch by pitch and make sure everything was breaking,” Maynard said. “I knew they had the top of the lineup in the bottom of the sixth. I made sure I was hitting my spots and doing my best.”
Four strikeouts, a ground ball back to Maynard and a nice play on a mid-range fly ball by second baseman Lacy Osborne secured the win.
“We just didn’t hit. We have done this throughout the course of the season. Then when we do get opportunities, we don’t take advantage of them,” Independence head coach Ken Adkins said. “At the end of the game we have three seniors at the plate and they are the most experienced players that we have. If we can’t win it there, we are not going to win it.”
The best scoring chance for the home team came in the fourth inning when Delaney Buckland beat out an infield grounder to open the frame.
Independence moved the runner to third with two outs, but Maynard killed the threat with a strikeout.
“Paige pitched a really good game and she is tough. She is smart and she has figured some stuff out,” Adkins said. “She knows our kids and knows what she is capable of. You have to give her all the credit in the world.”
While Maynard was on point in the circle, so was the defense behind her that recorded nine put-outs in the game without committing an error.
“Defense all year as performed really well. I think we have only had two games where we didn’t play lights out,” Shady Spring head coach Donald Barnett said. “Both pitchers have pitched well and it was going to take discipline in the box and an almost perfect fielding night to make it work. We were able to do that.”
The win moves Shady Spring into Friday’s championship round in the double elimination format. Independence will host Nicholas County Thursday for the right to play the Tigers.
“For several years (Independence) has been a handfull for us in the postseason. We are just tickled to death to have an opportunity to turn it around a little bit,” Barnett said. “Anytime we play Independence, it’s going to be a good game and a rivalry game. No matter who is better than who, both teams are going to perform the best they can.”
Although it is not the ideal situation coming back through the loser’s bracket, Adkins has had his team there before.
“If we can beat Nicholas County tomorrow, then we have to beat (Shady) twice. We been here before back in 2019. We lost the first game to Wyoming East and had to come back and win two in a row,” Adkins said. “The only good thing about that is you get to see (Maynard) over and over again. When you see her 40 times in a day, sooner or later we have to get used to it.”
Maynard was happy with the win, but also knew the sectional championship battle was far from over.
“I just have to go back to practice tomorrow and work on the things that were weren’t spot on tonight. We also have to make sure we don’t get ahead of ourselves,” Maynard said. “We still have to win one more time. We have to come out with the mentality that we have to win both games.”
SS: 000 001 0 – 1 4 0
I: 000 000 0 – 0 1 1
WP: Paige Maynard; LP: Delaney Buckland
Hitting – SS: Kaylee Waddell 1-3 (2b, r), Olivia Barnett 1-2, Emma Cyrus 1-3, Alexa Quesenberry 1-3; I: Delaney Buckland 1-3
