Coal City – In a sign of respect, Independence head coach Ken Adkins stuck to his guns, intentionally walking Shady Spring slugger Olivia Barnett to get to Hadley Wood.
Wood didn’t see it as a respect to her capabilities and let her bat do the talking.
The senior’s fifth-inning single scored the first run of the game, ultimately deciding the contest as the Tigers defeated the Patriots 3-0, clinching the Class AA Region 3, Section 2 championship Tuesday in Coal City.
Adkins elected to walk Barnett four times in the championship bracket, including once in Monday’s 4-2 win over the Tigers. Three of those times Wood made him pay, collecting two hits and driving in a run in three of her plate appearances.
“Honestly, I’m just like ‘You’ve got to hit now and make them regret it,'” Wood laughed. “Obviously I’m nervous but I made them regret it three times. A couple games (Independence pitcher Delaney Buckland) would get me with those inside pitches and those aren’t something I work on a lot. Really I like to get ahead in the count and hit the first pitch she gives me so I don’t get down. Two-strike approach so I choke up.”
Some of Wood’s opportunities came from Shady head coach Donald Barnett’s decision to change his lineup. He elected to drop leadoff hitter Kaylee Waddell to the cleanup spot, moving Paige Maynard, Olivia Barnett and Wood up a spot. It proved to be one of his most impactful decisions of the tournament with Maynard playing the role of leadoff well. She finished a home run shy of the cycle with her one-out triple in the fifth forcing Adkins to walk Barnett and bring Wood to the plate in a scoreless game.
“We just thought we better try and spread some of the bats out for a little more consistency,” Barnett said. “Probably the most efficient way we thought we could do that was move two, three and four up a spot and drop my leadoff down to cleanup. (Waddell’s) hit the ball pretty well so we felt comfortable moving her down. That put three pretty good bats right up front and for all intents and purposes it worked for us today.”
“I just got in the box and focused on really seeing the pitch and not getting anxious or trying to kill the ball,” Maynard said. “I got in the middle of the plate because it’s where I’m comfortable at and can see the ball good.”
The third time proved to be the charm for Maynard in many respects Tuesday.
After singling and doubling in her first two at-bats of the game, her opposite-field triple in the fifth proved to be the tipping point as she scored the decisive run, picking up the win in the circle as well. The sectional championship also came in her third try against the Patriots as they eliminated her in her freshman season at Liberty and did so again last year. Tuesday’s win was also her third career victory over the Patriots – all three coming this season.
All of that culminated in Adkins exclaiming his joy that she’s graduating when he announced she was Tournament MVP.
“I’m so proud of our team because we could’ve came out here down after losing yesterday,” Maynard said. “We came out here as ourselves. I think we were a little uptight but came out here relaxed and played how we play.”
Following Wood’s RBI single that plated the first run, Waddell laid down a squeeze bunt that chased home Barnett, staking the visitors to a 2-0 lead.
While Maynard and the Tigers enjoyed success at the plate, the opposite held true for Indy.
The Patriots’ first hit didn’t come until the fourth inning and a prime opportunity to tie the game failed to materialize in the bottom of the fifth.
After Kassidy Bradbury reached on an infield single with one out, Chloe Hart hit into an error at shortstop with the throw going just out of the reach of the first baseman, allowing Hart and Bradbury to advance into scoring position. A popup on a squeeze attempt and a strikeout stranded Indy’s last two base runner’s of the season.
The Tigers added to their lead in the top of the sixth when Lexi Hoke was hit by a pitch and stole second. She advanced to third when Maynard grounded out, forcing Adkins to issue Barnett’s third free pass of the game in hopes of striking out Wood. She instead grounded out, scoring Hoke for the final run of the game.
Indy’s bats offered little resistance the rest of the way with the final six batters going down in order.
“We had opportunities with runners at second and third,” Adkins said. “We had Alyssa (Daniels) up who’s probably our hottest hitter in the tournament. We don’t get a hit there and we had some chances to move some runners and we don’t get bunts down. Our inability to execute offensively and Paige (Maynard) is the story of this tournament. We gambled. The ultimate sign of respect – I made some notes today ‘Don’t pitch to Barnett with runners on’ and I made that note to myself. We did that and I thought we’d make other people beat us and they did. That’s what it came down to. They got hits from others places other than their stars. Those kids had opportunities to step up and that’s what they did. Our kids had opportunities and did not. That’s what it boils down to. It’s a tough feeling presenting somebody with a sectional championship trophy on your field. I told the kids afterwards nothing that happens out here changes the fact we never scored.”
With the loss Indy finishes its season at 17-14 while Shady improves to 18-4.
Shady now advances to the regional round for the first time since 2019 where it will face Wyoming East. The two teams did not play in the regular season after the administrations from both schools agreed to halt future regular season athletic contests between the two until further notice.
The best-of-three regional series will begin on Monday, May 16 at Wyoming East with game two shifting to Shady Spring. Game three, if necessary, will be played at Wyoming East.
***
Brooklyn Brown (Liberty), Emma Kiss and Laycee Cook (Nicholas County), Delaney Buckland, Alyssa Daniels and Alli Hypes (Independence), and Olivia Barnett, Hadley Wood, Emma Cyrus and Paige Maynard (Shady Spring) were named all-tournament with Maynard taking home Tournament MVP honors.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
SS: 000 021 0 – 3 6 2
I: 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
WP: Paige Maynard, LP: Delaney Buckland
Hitting – SS: Paige Maynard 3-4 (2B, 3B), Olivia Barnett 0-1 (3 IBB), Hadley Wood 1-4 (2 RBI), Kaylee Waddell (RBI), Emma Cyrus 1-3, Alexa Quesenberry 1-3; I: Delaney Buckland 1-3, Kassidy Bradbury 1-3.