Damascus freshman Taylor Wyatt had been out in front of Quince Orchard senior pitcher Rebecca Einstein all afternoon. Coming into her fourth appearance at the plate, she had already walked twice and fouled off countless pitches to the left.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, she finally connected, crushing a game-tying home run that breathed new life into the third-seeded Swarmin’ Hornets, who went on to defeat the tenth-seeded Cougars, 3-2, in nine innings and advance to the 4A West Region championship game.
Freshman outfielder Stephanie Hudlow, who struck out twice earlier in the game, clinched the win for Damascus (14-4) with a walkoff hit to score senior Emily Bosic in the bottom of the ninth.
“I was up in the box before, and I kept pulling to the left. I decided to get back because she was pitching me inside,” said Wyatt. “And then I looked back at my sister [Brittany Wyatt], and she’s a senior now, and I just don’t want her to go. It’ll be sad when she goes, so I just hit the ball.”
“Especially for a freshman, Taylor’s one of the most perceptive batters I’ve ever seen,” said Damascus coach Barb King. “She’s only struck out twice all season, and she’s the leadoff batter. She just grinds down and grinds down, and she’s making the small adjustments.”
The win ended a magical run for Quince Orchard (12-7), which had upset both Watkins Mill and Richard Montgomery to get to the regional semifinals.
“They’ve amazed me all year. This is my first year coaching, and if every year’s like this, I’ll coach until I die,” said Cougars coach Ken Reading.
Junior center fielder and leadoff batter Kelly Burnett gave the Cougars the lead twice. She had a single and scored off a hit by senior Joanna Robbins in the first inning, and after Damascus junior Ellen Smith tied the game with a home run in the second inning, Burnett turned a fifth-inning single into a double with some heads up base-running.
She then scored again on a single by Einstein.
“It was a tear-jerker,” said Reading. “You think you’re going to lose, you think you’re going to win. I knew it was going to come down to this. If we were going to get knocked out, it was going to be by a tough team in a tough game.”
Swarmin’ to victory
» Damascus will host Gaithersburg today or play at Blair on Saturday for the 4A West Region title and a berth in the 4A state tournament.
» Quince Orchard senior pitcher Rebecca Einstein finished with seven strikeouts. She allowed eight hits and gave up three walks — two to Damascus freshman Taylor Wyatt.
» Damascus senior pitcher Erin Nickell finished with four strikeouts. She also allowed eight hits and walked one.
