UPLAND, Ind. - The Maple Leafs softball team tied the program record for wins in a season during a split at Taylor on Friday evening. The Leafs needed just five innings to win game one 13-4, but the Trojans won on a walkoff grand slam in game two, winning 8-6.
The win in game one was the 24th of the season for Goshen, tying the 2001 team for the program record. The softball program began in 1993.
The Maple Leafs had three bases loaded walks with two outs in the top of the first inning of game one to take a quick 3-0 lead even though
Shea VanScoter's single was the only hit in the inning. Trojans starter Mady Foy threw 38 pitches in the first inning alone. Taylor scored a pair of runs in both the second and third innings and
Mckenzie Richardson had an RBI single in the top of the third.
With the teams tied 4-4 going into the fourth, the Goshen offense exploded for an eight-hit and seven-run inning. VanScoter hit her third single of the day with one out in the inning and
Kaylee Kates and
Bianca Diamond followed it up with singles of their own. Diamond's single scored VanScoter from second to give the Leafs the lead again.
Peyton Foreman came up next and walked, and then starting pitcher
Grace Schmitt hit a big two-RBI double to left center to make it 7-4. That forced a pitching change for Taylor, but Goshen's offense wasn't done yet.
Mckenzie Richardson had an RBI single and
Kyra Wilson added a two-RBI double. Later in the inning,
Ella Mcleod hit an RBI single up the middle and VanScoter came up with her second hit of the inning. She shot a double to left field which scored Mcleod and made it 12-4.
Richardson hit her third RBI single in just as many innings in the top of the fifth. Her four RBIs in the game is a season-high for the transfer from Pendleton, Indiana. It was also more than her previous nine games combined. With a 13-4 lead after five innings, Goshen won by run rule.
VanScoter had a perfect 4-4 day at the plate with two runs, an RBI and two stolen bases. The combination of VanScoter, Schmitt and Richardson combined to go 9-9 with seven RBIs and five runs scored.
Kyra Wilson had two RBIs and
Peyton Foreman scored three runs.
Grace Schmitt picked up her first win of the season, allowing two earned runs in three innings. VanScoter pitched the next two innings and struck out two without allowing any runs.
Goshen was 1-20 against Taylor in their previous 21 meetings.
Taylor never had a lead for the whole day, until the final play of game two.
The Leafs started the offense in the first inning with an RBI single off the bat of
Bianca Diamond and an RBI groundout from
Peyton Foreman. Taylor scored once in the bottom half of the inning and GC responded with a sac fly from
Kamille Badibanga. This was Goshen's 15th sacrifice fly of the season, which set a new program record. More Goshen runs came in the fourth and fifth innings with RBI singles from
Sydney Lockhart, Foreman and
Mckenzie Richardson.
Taylor scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to get within two, but they left two runners in scoring position at the end of the inning. Nevertheless, they loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the seventh before Delaney Barton hit her first collegiate homer - a walkoff grand slam.
Shea VanScoter pitched the last two innings and had the loss.
Esme Pico and
Alisyn Catenacci combined to allow three hits and two earned runs in the first four innings. The Leafs outhit Taylor 9-7. Foreman had the first three-hit game of her career. She went 3-4 with two RBIs.
Bianca Diamond was 2-4 with a run and an RBI.
Goshen (24-23, 16-18 CL) hosts Spring Arbor on Saturday at 10:00 am in the final home games of the season and the last games of the regular season. Any Maple Leaf win on Saturday locks Goshen into the five-seed in the conference tournament. With the top four seeds already locked (#1 Marian, #2 Indiana Wesleyan, #3 Mount Vernon Nazarene, #4 Spring Arbor), Goshen could still place anywhere between fifth and seventh depending on tomorrow's results.
