Corry walks off with thrilling win over Northwestern in the District 10 softball playoffs
Corry battled through some high-pressure games throughout the regular season.
The Beavers' experience paid off in the late innings Tuesday in several gut-wrenching situations.
Ultimately, it was Mackenzie Spence's rocket single up the middle that gave Corry a thrilling 7-6 win over Northwestern in eight innings in the District 10 Class 3A softball quarterfinals at Penn State Behrend.
“These girls never give up and they don't let things get to them,” said Corry head coach Allison Williams. “There were a few times at the beginning of the year that happened but they've learned from those early games.”
Corry (17-2) moves on to the D-10 semifinals on Thursday against Harbor Creek at 1 p.m. at Penn State Behrend with the winner clinching a spot in the D-10 championship and the PIAA playoffs.
The Beavers and the Wildcats (12-8) played a pretty even game through five innings with Northwestern leading 6-4. Spence came through with a two-run single in the sixth inning to even the score at six.
Corry appeared to be in good shape to win the game in the bottom of the seventh inning as Alyssa Burlew reached on an infield single and went to second on an error to start the inning. Sadye Dyne then singled her to third with one out.
District 10 playoffs: View baseball, softball results, box scores, schedules for May 20-25
Mahra Goodwill tried to bunt Burlew in, but Northwestern's defense came up big to field the bunt and throw Burlew out as she tried to get back to third base. Kaycee Porter grounded out to end the inning.
What happened in the eighth inning?
Northwestern then had a big chance to take the lead as Avery Feldmann reached on an error and freshman pinch-hitter Apryl Wright singled to put runners on first and third. Allison Sawyer responded with two strikeouts and a groundout to end the threat tied at six.
“It definitely riled us up a bit to not let them score in the top of the eighth inning,” Spence said. “It gave us drive going to the bottom of the inning and we knew we could do it.”
Payton McCray, one of the top leadoff hitters in the area, crushed a triple to start the bottom of the eighth inning.
“I went up there knowing there were no outs and said I was going to hit a pitch as hard as I could,” McCray said with a smile. “I was able to get one down the middle.”
The rest is history as Spence ripped a pitch up the middle to end the game.
“The second she got on the pressure was on me to get her in,” said Spence. “I took my time and looked for my pitch and knew we could do it.”
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: D-10 softball playoffs: Corry walks off with win vs. Northwestern
