Holbrook’s softball team picked up their first state tournament game win in over 17 years when they defeated seventh ranked Northwest Christian on Tuesday afternoon. Playing on the Crusader’s home diamond, Holbrook used a big seventh inning rally to overtake the higher seed and advance to the second round of the tournament with an 11-10 win.
Both teams matched the other with single runs in the first. The Crusaders took their first lead with another solo run in the second. Holbrook briefly held the lead after scoring twice in the top of the third, only to see Northwest Christian open the margin up with six runs in the home half.
Trailing 8-3, Holbrook trimmed the lead to two with three runs in the fourth. Northwest added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to seemingly hold a comfortable 10-6 lead going into the top of the seventh. Things looked bleak for Holbrook until Tamryn Baldonado blasted a three-run home run in the top of the seventh, making the score 10-9. Sarah Slim went back-to-back with a solo shot, tying the game at 10-10. Holbrook scored the game-winning run on a passed ball by the Crusaders.
Baldonado went 2 for 4 with the home run. Slim was 1 for 4 with her homer. Chistyana Serna went 1 for 3 with a double. Macy Moore was 1 for 3 with a double. Natalie Patterson went 3 for 3. Riley Reidhead was 1 for 4. Angelique Tyler went 2 for 4.
Patterson pitched three innings, giving up eight runs on eight hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Baldonado pitched four frames, allowing two runs on four hits with a pair of walks and three strikeouts.
With the win the 10th-seeded Roadrunners advanced to the second round where they met up with the second-seeded Empire on Friday evening. The Ravens had just one loss all season and they proved worthy of their high-ranking, handing Holbrook a season-ending 15-2 loss in five innings. Holbrook had just two hits in the game off Empire’s talented sophomore pitcher. One of those hits was a two-run home run in the fourth inning by Sarah Slim, helping Holbrook avoid the shutout.
Empire took advantage of a couple of Holbrook errors in the first to score three runs. Their five runs in the third and seven runs in the fourth were more than enough to put the game out of reach with Holbrook struggling to get hits.
With the loss, Holbrook closed the book on their season with an overall season record of 19-11. They were also east region champions with a well-played season.
