Homer happy: Philo's long balls fuel comeback win against West
FALLS TOWNSHIP — There is a Wrigley Field effect when pitching at West Muskingum.
As with the fabled old ball park in Chicago's north side, games can turn offensive-minded quickly when the prevailing winds are blowing out to left field on The Hill.
Thursday was one of those instances. The scoreboard bore a direct reflection when the dust settled.
Visiting Philo and the host Tornadoes combined for eight homers and 24 runs, with the Electrics doing much of the damage in the late innings of a 15-9 win in a Muskingum Valley League crossover.
Freshman Kyleigh McGraw drove in six runs with a pair of homers and three other hits, fueling a Philo offense that hit school-record six homers. Four came in succession in the top of the seventh inning — all after West got the first two outs.
McGraw also pitched seven innings, including a game-ending double play that saw her ricochet a hard-hit ball up the middle from Gracie Settles that allowed shortstop Brooklyn Ferrell time to dive on it, step on the bag and whip it to first baseman Caitlin Rose.
It came after Tornado slugger Lydiah Huey, who hit two homers, including a three-run go-ahead shot with two outs in the fifth, was intentionally walked.
"We've got some great girls here," McGraw said. "We were certainly excited to come here and play this game. We're both good teams and we've got a bunch of friends from West."
The Electrics (12-6, 8-4 MVL-Big) turned an 8-5 deficit entering the sixth into a seven-run lead when West came up for its final at-bat. Veteran coach Michelle Moyer said she'd never seen anything like what she witnessed from her team in the top of the seventh.
That's notable considering her heralded coaching and playing careers span more than three decades.
"I just have to credit the girls," Moyer said. "We played a little flat (on Wednesday) and we said coming into today that you've got to pick it up, got to play with a lot of enthusiasm, because this is a great team coming in. I think the girls stepped up and rose up to that occasion. You can't take anything away from West. They have nothing to hang their heads about."
West looked to be in the catbird seat after Huey's homer turned a 5-2 deficit into an 8-5 lead. The fifth featured six Tornado hits, including Cadence Puckett's game-tying single to left with two outs.
Puckett still needed to get six more outs, however. That proved too tall of a task.
Olivia Winland's solo homer to lead off the sixth was followed by a one-out single from Ferrell, an RBI double from Kassydi Harris and a walk to Addison Shearer.
Two batters later, McGraw singled home Harris with two outs to tie it at 8, and Rose scored the go-ahead run on Bri Wolfe's liner to center.
West had a runner on in the bottom of the inning after Zoie Settles drew a lead-off walk, but she was stranded after Karlee Southall made three straight putouts in right field. Her final grab stole extra bases from Addy Antonetz and kept her team in front.
That momentum carried into the seventh. Playing for an insurance run, Winland sacrificed Megan Tom to second base with one out. Southall then grounded out, as West merely needed an out to escape the jam.
That never materialized.
Ferrell singled up the middle to make it 10-8. It triggered a stretch of six straight batters reaching base, which also included homers from Harris, Shearer and Rose before McGraw helped herself. The inning mercifully ended when Winland, the 11th batter of the inning, flied out.
Puckett was lifted for Kadie Bare after the second homer, and Moyer tried to console her after she moved to third base.
"That's rough," Moyer said. "I've been on the other end of that (as a former pitcher), so I know exactly how she feels. There for a while it was tied up, or up one or up two. She pitched a heck of a game."
Philo, which had a 2-0 lead after an inning, 3-1 after three and 3-2 entering the fifth, finished with 17 hits and committed only one error. Ferrell, Harris and Wolfe had three hits apiece.
West had 11 hits and one error. That firepower was why Moyer was never comfortable until the final outs were made — the Tornadoes entered Thursday with 26 homers and a .472 team batting average.
She was proud of McGraw for fighting through arguably the league's deepest lineup, one with homers from nine players this season.
"As a freshman stepping up against Sheridan, John Glenn, Tri-Valley, she was ready," Moyer said. "The girls have come out and answered every challenge they've taken on. ... We are going to take this win and ride it as far as we can."
They had three players with multiple hits, with Huey's homers leading the way. Bare added a double and single and Gabbi Hammer two singles.
West (10-4, 7-3 MVL-Small) entered with seven wins in eight games and won its last four games by a combined score of 75-3. Coach Josh Bobo credited the Electrics, who said are always well-schooled under Moyer and veteran assistants Jeff Moyer and Bob Vousden.
Despite their impressive run of success, Bobo knew his team "was in for a heck of a fight."
"We came back and tied it at 8 and had a lot of momentum, but their bats came alive," Bobo said. "With our group we are used to being the punchers there. We took that 8-5 lead and probably subconsciously let our guard down, and that's too good of a team. They really got the bats hot there."
He's confident his team will rebound. A home doubleheader with Howard East Knox on Saturday is followed by a critical Small School Division home game on Monday against Morgan.
The Raiders, led by ace pitcher Malayni Clemens and a strong lineup, entered Friday at 12-3.
"We're definitely heading in the right direction, but we'll see how we respond to a loss like this," Bobo said. "We talk about climbing the hill. That will be one more step. We took a loss at Fredericktown (on April 11) and won four or five in a row, so I know we have it in us."
sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Philo's long balls fuel comeback win against West in MVL softball
