They were down, but not out.
Through the first three innings, the Redmond/Eastlake All-Stars softball team, which earned a berth as the host team to the Junior Softball World Series by winning the District 9 Tournament last month, struggled mightily in all facets of the game.
Redmond/Eastlake’s bats were quiet, starting pitcher Melissa White was having a rough outing, and the fielders were struggling to make routine plays as Canada jumped out to a 10-1 lead at Everest Park in Kirkland Monday night.
But Redmond/Eastlake rallied and pulled out an 11-10 win in one of the best comebacks in tournament history.
“We need to make sure we come ready at the beginning,” admitted head coach Mark Gransee. “We know we’re here now, we know what the competition is. We gotta play our ‘A’ game from the first inning, and just bring it.”
As in all sports, momentum is everything, and as soon as Redmond/Eastlake started to make solid contact, the floodgates opened. The rally was sparked by a seven-run fourth inning.
First it was White, lacing an RBI double with the bases loaded to cut the deficit to 10-4, and substitute Rachael Levine hitting a double of her own that scored two more runs.
The next batter, Stephanie Lin, singled to pull Redmond/Eastlake to within three at 10-7. Then Kristen Holec laid down a perfectly executed bunt that was misplayed by Canada, allowing a runner from third to score to make it 10-8.
Redmond/Eastlake relief pitcher Hannah Raudebaugh moved over from first base to the mound and pitched three innings of shutout ball, giving her team a chance to mount a comeback.
In the top of the seventh inning, No. 3 hitter Kelly Walls slammed a line-drive RBI double into left-center field which narrowed the gap to 10-9, and then Gransee’s daughter, Blake, delivered a clutch RBI single to tie the game at 10 as the home crowd and dugout erupted in celebration.
After Gransee stole second and moved to third on a fielder’s choice, Raudebaugh helped her own cause in a big way with the go-ahead RBI single as Redmond/Eastlake led 11-10.
Raudebaugh then got out of trouble in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win. With the tying run at third base and the winning run on second, Raudebaugh got Canada’s Alex Bondy to ground out to end the threat.
“This team has a lot of character… and they proved it today,” Mark Gransee said. “It was a slow start, but they never gave up and they showed what they can do. They turned it around, everybody contributed, and we love the result.”
After the host team’s thrilling 11-10 comeback win against Canada on Monday, they were handcuffed by the Southeast team of South Tampa Little League 13-2 Tuesday, and then fell to a very good Southwest team from Texas (La Grange Little League), 12-8, Wednesday.
During the game against La Grange, Redmond/Eastlake jumped out to an early lead against a squad that had pushed 25 runs across the plate the night before.
In the top of the first inning, first baseman Hannah Raudebaugh connected with an RBI single to put the host team on the board, and then starting pitcher Melissa White uncorked a two-run double to center, just out of the center fielder’s reach.
Unlike her start against Canada, White showed excellent command early on and her defense sparkled behind her as Redmond/Eastlake led 4-0 after two and half innings. Then La Grange erupted for five runs in the bottom of the third inning.
The host team gave up a bases-loaded single and then a dropped ball in right field allowed another run to score. The very next batter, No. 5 hitter Madison Knesek, launched a long fly ball to deep right for two more, and when the dust settled, Southwest had taken a 5-4 lead, which was extended to 10-4 after four innings to put the game out of reach.
With a seeding game Friday afternoon and the final consolation contest on Saturday, Gransee will look for his team to go all-out the rest of the way.
“(We need to) just keep winning, getting here is not enough,” he said. “We’re here to win, and we’re just going to keep plugging away.”
