Tia McAlister was one out away — one out away from getting a complete-game victory over Topeka High to complete her best pitching performance of the season.
But things went terribly wrong for the Emporia High senior, and she would not get to see the game’s ending.
Instead, what she got was a broken finger and a ride to the hospital while the EHS softball team completed a 5-3 victory over the Lady Trojans in Game One of Monday’s doubleheader.
“It’s sad because it was my last game ever since I’m not playing in college,” McAlister said after returning from the hospital with a heavily bandaged right ring finger. “But at least we won.”
Emporia High lost the second game, 10-3.
Heading into the seventh and final inning of Game One, EHS held a three-run lead over Topeka High. McAlister had been a force in the circle for the Lady Spartans, giving up just two runs on four hits in six innings.
McAlister gave up a leadoff single before forcing consecutive groundouts to move EHS to within one out of ending its seven-game losing streak.
Then, Topeka’s Elizabeth Coulon hit an unassuming pop fly over the infield. McAlister and EHS shortstop McKenzie Cinelli both got under the ball, with each one calling for it. The two collided, and the ball appeared to bounce into McAlister’s glove. But instead, it fell to the ground — which allowed a run to score — and McAlister let out a shriek of pain.
The ball had landed on the tip of her right ring finger, breaking it at the first knuckle.
“I was a drama queen,” McAlister later said with a laugh. “It was a lot of pain. We were both stubborn and calling for the ball, and I put my hand up near my glove, and it (the ball) hit right on my finger. It was so gross.”
McAlister cried out in pain all the way to the dugout, where she was tended to briefly before being taken to the hospital.
Meanwhile, Hilary Heinrichs came in with two on and two outs and got Chelsea Hutton to strike out to earn the save and give Emporia the victory.
“I feel bad for (McAlister). That’s probably the best she’s pitched all year,” EHS coach Ray Owens said. “She was pitching well, and she didn’t get into that slump where she would give up hit after hit and then walk a couple. She just pitched good.
“It was nice to get that win. We’ve got to play that way all the time.”
Emporia got off to a hot start in its half of the first inning, as Katie Weaver led off with a bunt single followed by a walk to Cinelli. Brendy Muninger hit a line-drive single to left that brought Weaver home to give EHS the 1-0 lead, and two batters later, Heinrichs singled to center to plate Cinelli to make it 2-0.
Cinelli provided the offensive highlight of the game in the third frame when she hit a solo homer to straightaway center that barely crept over the fence to give the Lady Spartans a 3-0 lead.
It was the first home run of the senior’s career.
“Wow, that felt amazing,” Cinelli said. “I’ve never hit one out of the park before. It was so high up in the air that I didn’t think it was going to go over, but then I heard everybody screaming and saw everybody coming out of the dugout. Then I knew.”
EHS added two more runs in the fifth when Lexi Hileman and Cinelli each scored off Topeka High errors to put the Lady Spartans ahead, 5-0. The Lady Trojans got three of their four hits in the sixth inning to help close the gap to 5-2, but McAlister did not allow Topeka to get any closer, and the game moved into the seventh inning.
“It was horrible,” Cinelli said of McAlister’s injury. “It was a bad time for that to happen ... but it felt really good to get the win.”
In Game Two, Topeka High used a four-run seventh to crawl out of reach of the Lady Spartans, who mounted a late rally only to fall all too short.
The Lady Trojans scored once in the first and sixth frames and twice in both the third and fifth innings to creep out to a 6-1 lead.
In the seventh, Topeka High knocked around Emporia’s starter, Heinrichs, for three hits and took advantage of two EHS errors to take a 10-1 lead into the final half inning.
“They hit the ball a lot better in the second game,” Owens said, “and then we started making a few mistakes. It just snowballed.”
McAlister arrived back in the dugout just in time to see her teammates stage an attempt at a rally, but EHS could only muster two runs after loading the bases with no outs.
“I was really hoping the game was still going on, and it was, so I was really happy,” McAlister said. “We got a few more runs when I got back, so that was nice.”
Cinelli, a St. John Fisher College signee, provided the offensive firepower for the Lady Spartans, going 2-for-4 — including her home run — with two walks and four runs scored in the doubleheader.
EHS is scheduled to play its final home games at 4 p.m. today with a doubleheader against Shawnee Heights.
Monday at Emporia
Game One
Emporia 5, Topeka High 3
Topeka High 000 002 1 — 3 5 2
Emporia 201 020 X — 5 6 1
McAlister, Heinrichs (7) and Muninger. Luna and Lyons. W — McAlister. L — Luna. S — Heinrichs. 2B — TH: Hutton, Patterson, Sprew. Emporia: Hileman. HR: Cinelli.
Game Two
Topeka High 10, Emporia 3
Topeka High 102 021 4 — 10 7 5
Emporia 100 000 2 — 3 7 3
Heinrichs and Muninger. Stryker and Lyons. W — Stryker. L — Heinrichs. 2B: TH: Coulon, Stryker (2). Emporia: Muninger.