Sterling wins with walk-off over Rock Island

STERLING – After an impressive comeback by Rock Island, an epic at-bat won the game for Sterling.

With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning Tuesday evening, Lily Martinez ended an eight-pitch plate appearance with a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Bree Taylor as the Golden Warriors won the Western Big 6 game 5-4.

“I didn’t have the greatest at-bats today, but in that last one, I really just wanted to place it somewhere and try to fight as much as possible through that at-bat,” Martinez said. “I was just trying to keep a great mindset in the box during that at-bat, because it really came down to that last one, just trying to get that run in.”

Sterling (7-2, 2-0 WB6) led 4-1 going into the top of the seventh, but the Rocks tied the score on a double by Maddie Carroll, an RBI triple by AJ Lincoln – her third hit of the day – and RBI singles by Jozie Kerr and Lilly McDaniel.

Like she’d done all game in the circle, Martinez wiggled off the hook to strand the potential go-ahead run at third.

“The girls showed their resilience. Their never-give-up attitude is there. Sometimes you wish it was there for the whole game instead of just when we really need it, but I’m super proud of them for not rolling over and playing dead,” Rocks coach Julie Hudnall said. “They earned themselves back into that game right there.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Olivia Castillo walked, then Mya Lira singled. Lily Cantu’s fielder’s choice put runners on first and third, then Carroll pitched around Marley Sechrest, who had hit the ball hard three times in her earlier at-bats, to load the bases.

Martinez took two balls, then pulled the next two pitches foul. After ball three, she pulled two more line shots foul. She smacked the eighth pitch into right field. Ella Leahy made the catch and fired home, but Taylor slid across the plate ahead of the tag by Kerr.

“It was nerve-wracking. She kept throwing inside, and I was just trying to keep on top of it and make sure I fought to get my pitch,” Martinez said. “That last pitch was outside, so I just tried to drive it.

“I dropped my hands, but the run scored in the end, and that was all right.”

It’s the second straight season Sterling has won in walk-off fashion against Rock Island (4-3, 1-1), but it looked like that wouldn’t be necessary.

Sechrest’s RBI single in the bottom of the first inning answered Kerr’s sac fly in the top, then Lily Cantu tripled home Lira in the fifth when Leahy lost the fly ball to right in the sun. Sechrest followed with her first home run of the season, a no-doubter to left-center that saw the senior raising her arm to celebrate before she rounded first.

“Honestly, I knew it right off the bat; it felt really good,” Sechrest said. “The one I hit right before that, it was close, and I’ve had probably five or six of those so far this season, just hit hard right at the fence. I knew that one, I had to turn on it, and I was able to get it out.”

It looked like it would hold up, as Martinez turned into an escape artist in the circle. She wiggled out of bases-loaded, one-out jams in both the third and sixth innings, and also stranded Rocks runners on second and third in the fifth without allowing a run.

Martinez allowed 11 hits and struck out three without a walk, and her defense had her back. Third baseman Rosie Cantu and left fielder Dasia Lewis both made diving catches to end innings, and Martinez also induced 10 pop-outs.

“My defense was there to back me up today,” Martinez said. “Rocky is a very good team, and they fought hard, and we fought hard, and it ended in our favor today because of our defense.”

Lira had three hits and scored twice, Sechrest had two hits and three RBIs, and Kaity Taylor singled and doubled for the Warriors.

Sechrest, Sterling’s fourth-year starting catcher, was impressed with the resolve her team showed.

“Being able to fight back when you’re down, that’s just energy out of your dugout and having confidence in each other,” she said. “I think we’ve done a really good job this season not getting down on ourselves when other teams do come back; it’s just picking each other up and really just staying in it. We haven’t allowed each other to get down in that last inning when we know we’ve got to pull it out.”