Iroquois softball walks off with playoff win. How did the Braves do it?
Karina Reichard could feel the adrenaline in the on-deck circle during the bottom of the seventh inning.
She wasn't feeling the nerves of Iroquois' softball season possibly ending after allowing four runs in the top of the inning.
She was excited to get a chance to win the game.
After Grace Abele tied the game with a triple to center field, Reichard crushed a single down the left-field line to give Iroquois the walk-off win.
“I was in the on-deck circle just saying 'C'mon Grace get on and I'll win it for us',” Reichard said. “Once I made contact I couldn't believe it.”
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Iroquois rallied past Rocky Grove 7-6 in a District 10 Class 1A quarterfinal on Monday at Penn State Behrend and has a quick turnaround as the Braves take on top-seeded Cambridge Springs on Wednesday at Allegheny College at 2 p.m. in the semifinals.
Iroquois (11-7) took control early on Monday with five runs in the first two innings and led 5-2 after six innings.
Rocky Grove (8-11) didn't go away in the seventh inning. Paige Cresswell led off with a double before RaeLynn Montgomery was hit by a pitch. After a Zoe Cresswell single loaded the bases, Kaylin Jacoby ripped a base hit to score one run and another came in on a throwing error.
Jillian Cratty then put down a bunt that was thrown away as two more runs scored to give the Orioles a 6-5 lead. Iroquois stopped the rally with a double play to end the inning but trailed for the first time in the entire game.
“We just needed to get hits after that tough top of the seventh inning,” said Iroquois standout Mila Gehrlein-Carpenter, who had three extra-base hits in the win. “We made a couple of errors and we came back with hits. We scored and we won the game.”
Iroquois has been a team known to rally this year which almost took the drama out of the bottom of the seventh inning. With workmanlike efficiency, the Braves jumped on the Rocky Grove pitcher right away.
Gehrlein-Carpenter crushed her second double of the game to start the inning before Abele tripled to centerfield to tie the game at six.
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Before anyone in the crowd could debate strategy or ask what they might do to get the winning run home, Reichard jumped on a pitch down the left-field line to end the game.
“I didn't really have to tell the girls anything going to the bottom of the seventh inning,” said Iroquois coach Mary Butler. “These girls never quit. I've been involved with softball for a long time and this is one of the few teams that I've seen come back time and time again.”
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Iroquois rallies in the seventh inning in D-10 softball playoff win
