Game 1 box score: Hillsdale 6, Cedarville 5
Game 2 box score: Cedarville 13, Hillsdale 1
Sophomore Sam Catron wasn't even supposed to play this season.
An upper-body injury required surgery and a long rehabilitation period that was to extend through the season. But through much hard work, she got herself cleared to play, and Thursday afternoon, she had a moment all players dream of.
Catron hit a walk-off double that scored Amanda Marra in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead Hillsdale to a 6-5 win over Cedarville University in the first half of their doubleheader at Johnny Williams Field. The Yellow Jackets won game two 13-1 in five innings.
The Chargers are 16-12 overall and 10-6 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference after the split.
Marra drew a leadoff walk in the ninth, and Catron crushed a ball to right-center field for the game-clinching knock. She was 2-for-4 in the game and is enjoying a tremendous season in her role as designated player.
The walk-off hit capped an impressive comeback from a 5-0 deficit. The first game was scoreless through four, but the Yellow Jackets scored twice in the fifth and three more times in the sixth to take a 5-0 lead.
The Hillsdale bats erupted in the bottom of the six, pushing four runs across to make it a game again. Victoria Addis, Jessica Taylor and Katie Kish each doubled in the inning, with Kish's shot scoring Addis and Natalie Walters to make it a 5-4 game.
Taylor doubled again in the seventh, scoring pinch-runner Sarah Wojcik to tie the game at five. A scoreless eighth inning led to Catron's heroics in the ninth.
Taylor was 2-for-4 with a run scored and a run batted in, a stat line matched by Walters. Freshman Erin Hunt started the game, but returned to pick up the win in relief, striking out five batters.
In game two, Cedarville exploded for six runs in the second inning to put the game out of reach quickly.
Taylor went 2-for-3 and Kish was 2-for-2 in the game two defeat.