Leach, Willis leave the yard while Wallington spins a gem in Baylor's region softball rout of GPS
Despite legendary Baylor softball head coach Kelli Smith not being present for her team's archival showdown against GPS, the result was still much the same for the Red Raiders, who rolled to a 13-2 Division II-AA East Region rout in six innings Tuesday at home for their eighth straight win over the Bruisers.
After having an appeal denied by the TSSAA for Smith's ejection this past weekend in a tournament where she believed she was just confined to the dugout, Baylor had their coach's back early.
The Red Raiders struck fast and furious as freshman slugger Xahara Willis smacked a three-run home run to dead center in the first inning, while freshman shortstop Amiya Leach's grand slam off the bottom of the scoreboard in left field provided the nine-time defending TSSAA champions a 9-0 lead in the second inning.
"We really came around today as a team and put it all together," said Willis, who hit her eighth home run of the season after hitting seven last year as an eighth grader playing high school varsity softball. "When we saw Amiya's go over in the second, we knew we could pull this one off. Coach Smith has prepared us to do this and we weren't going to stop because she wasn't here. Our goal is to go out there and play our best no matter what. We want to get better every day."
A six-run second inning uprising for Baylor (13-7-1, 2-0 Division II-AA East Region) came after sophomore starter Adi Wallington struck out the side in the top half of the inning, which included a nasty changeup for a swinging punchout. Wallington went the distance while allowing just three hits and no earned runs as GPS (15-6, 4-2 region) scored its lone two runs on a throwing error in the third.
Meanwhile, senior Mary Blake Reese's third hit of the game dropped in shallow center provided the mercy-rule walk-off victory and the Red Raiders' 12th and final hit as they bounced back from a tough past week in which they lost four of five games.
"That was a really good team win in a big rivalry game," said acting head coach and longtime assistant Susan Ross. "We are a young team that is getting better every day. We only have one person in the same starting position from last year and that's second baseman Chloe Cunningham. Everyone else is in a new spot, including Xahara, who is our full-time catcher now. She did a great job behind the plate working with Addi, who pitched really well tonight."
Wallington fanned eight in her first start against the Bruisers.
"We came out here wanting to pull through for Coach Smith," Wallington said. "We came out really strong. I wasn't going to let the little blunder in the third inning phase me. I went hard and my catcher helped me through it. Everyone contributed today and this was a big win for us."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.
Leach, Willis leave the yard while Wallington spins a gem in Baylor's region softball rout of GPS | Chattanooga Times Free Press
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