Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia High's Hilary Heinrichs, left, crosses the plate after a two-RBI double by Lexi Hileman in the bottom of the first tied the score at 2 during the first game of EHS's doubleheader against Junction City on Friday.
Lydia Roemer’s heart was pounding, her eyes wide with excitement.
The Emporia High freshman had been asked to pinch hit in her very first at-bat at the varsity level with her team trailing Junction City by one run with two outs and the tying run at second.
“It was really intense and I was pretty scared,” Roemer said. “I didn’t think I was going to play today; I was just going to watch. My heart was beating really fast.”
With her teammates cheering wildly from the dugout, Roemer worked the count to 2-2, then smacked a drive to the gap in right-center that appeared to be enough to score Lauren Kimble from second to tie the game.
But no one counted on Junction City center fielder Garlandra King making a full-extension dive to snag the ball out of the air, ending the game and ending Emporia High’s hopes of finally breaking through for its first victory of the season, as Junction City won, 7-6, to take the first game of the doubleheader.
“It was a really good catch, but I was mad that she caught it,” Roemer said. “I was thinking, ‘Just drop the ball.’”
In both games of Friday’s twinbill, Emporia High made seventh-inning rallies and had the tying run at second only to see Junction City make one last necessary play to end the Lady Spartans’ threat. Junction City won Game Two, 5-4, with the final out coming on a hard-hit ground ball by Kimble that was snagged by the Lady Jays’ shortstop, Marissa Clark, who forced out pinch runner Sammie Gumfory at third.
“So, so close,” EHS assistant coach Kristen Oberle said. “They want it (a win) so bad. They just have to get over that hump and finish it before the end of the game. They came so close and didn’t get it.”
Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia High's Jennifer Lechien beats out the throw to first for a fifth-inning single during the first game of EHS's doubleheader against Junction City on Friday. Emporia lost both games, 7-6 and 5-4.
Indeed, it was the closest the Lady Spartans — who fell to 0-12 — have come all season to getting that elusive first victory only to be turned away once again.
In Game One, after giving up two runs in the top of the first to go down 2-0, Emporia tied the game at 2 in the bottom half of the frame thanks to a two-RBI double from Lexi Hileman.
Junction City again wrestled the lead away from EHS, plating three runs in the fourth to go ahead, 5-2. Emporia’s Katie Weaver scored from third on a wild pitch in the sixth to draw EHS to within 5-3, setting up the first round of last-inning dramatics.
In the seventh, the Lady Jays got two runs in to go ahead 7-3. With Emporia up to bat, leadoff hitter Hilary Heinrichs reached on a dropped pop fly by King in shallow center, and Heinrichs made it to second after the ball scooted away from King.
After a groundout from Jennifer Lechien moved Heinrichs to third, Hileman drove a 1-0 pitch to the wall in right center that plated Heinrichs and gave Hileman a stand-up triple. Hannah Lynch then walked, and Hileman scored on a sacrifice bunt by Weaver that made it 7-5.
With two outs, Kimble smacked a double to left field, scoring Lynch and drawing EHS to within one at 7-6. But Roemer’s freshman heroics were dashed moments later by King’s diving catch.
“It felt amazing off the bat,” Roemer said, “but she dove for it and made a really good catch.”
Hileman led the EHS offense in Game One, going 3-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and a run scored. Lechin also came up with a pair of hits to go with a run scored.
Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia High second baseman Whitney Page throws out a runner at first to end the fifth inning of Game One of EHS's doubleheader against Junction City on Friday.
In Game Two, Junction City took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning before plating another two runs in the top of the final frame that again would prove to be the difference.
Still, EHS made things interesting.
Lenae Wells drew a leadoff walk, stole second and then went to third on a wild pitch. Wells scored when the next batter, Heinrichs, flied out to center, making it 5-3.
Lechien walked to give EHS a one-out baserunner, moved to second on a groundout by Hileman and then scored on a single to center by Lynch, pulling Emporia to within one again at 5-4.
Weaver singled down the left line to move the pinch runner, Gumfory, to second, once again giving EHS the tying run in scoring position.
However, Kimble hit a sharp grounder to Clark, and Clark tossed the ball to third baseman Allison Coy for the final out.
“It’s really frustrating,” Heinrichs said. “There were several plays that could have made the difference for us tonight. We got our bats really going tonight ... a lot of the little things just didn’t go for us.”
Several nice defensive plays on Junction City’s part, including King’s game-saving grab in Game One, took the wind out of the Emporia’s sails time and time again in both games. Not helping Emporia’s cause were several base-running mistakes on line drives that were caught, allowing Junction City to record four double plays.
“They made some awesome catches,” Oberle said. “We had some hard hits, but they caught them and got us off-guard a few times. There were a few times where we could have had some big plays, but they made great catches.”
Lynch went 3-for-3 with an RBI in Game Two, while Heinrichs was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
“I told them I was very proud of them for the way they put it together,” Oberle said, “but they’re going to have to take that momentum and use it. They’re going to have to take that momentum and use it to their advantage and try to pick up a win.”
Junction City 7, Emporia 6
Game One
Junction City 200 300 2 — 7 7 3
Emporia 200 001 3 — 6 7 1
JC — Sarah Schmidt and Mallory Knudson. Emporia — Cassandra Huth and Hilary Heinrichs.
W — Schmidt. L — Huth. 2B — JC: Marissa Clark, Taylor Pender. Emporia: Lexi Hileman, Lauren Kimble. 3B — Hileman.
Junction City 5, Emporia 4
Game Two
Junction City 100 200 2 — 5 8 0
Emporia 110 000 2 — 4 7 1
JC — Sara Schmidt and Mallory Knudson. Emporia — Hannah Lynch and Hilary Heinrichs.
W — Schmidt. L — Lynch. 2B — JC: Marissa Clark.
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