“I know this sounds so cliche, but I’ve been waiting for it my whole entire high school career,” Curtner said. “I’ve been here two years, and I’ve been waiting for it. Two-run walkoff home run to win the game … I mean, that’s your typical softball girl’s dream. I just lived my dream basically right there.”
Shelby Schmitt led off the BHS seventh with a single, and Curtner followed by pounding a 1-2 Taylor Phelps pitch over the fence in left field.
Curtner said she knew the game was over as soon as she connected with the ball.
“I almost missed first (base),” she said. “The feeling … it was crazy. It was just amazing.”
Badin coach Greg Stitzel said he considered giving Curtner the bunt sign. That didn’t work out very well in the first inning when she bunted and got called out after the ball hit her.
“I’m a small-ball guy,” Stitzel said. “I’ve got my fastest runner on the team at second base if she gets the bunt down in the seventh, but she’s been hammering the ball. I have to give my coaches credit. I’m looking over asking what I should do. Matt (Rains) is going, ‘Whatever you want to do,’ and Jeff (Gray) goes, ‘Let her hit.’ So I let her hit.”
He showed his excitement as he watched Curtner go yard.
“I’m going, ‘Get out of here, get out of here,’ and then I’m jumping all the way up and down the line,” Stitzel said. “That was huge. That was amazing.”
It was the second straight come-from-behind, walkoff triumph for the Rams, who improved to 27-1 and set a single-season school record for wins by a girls athletic team.
Badin will face Greater Catholic League Coed Division rival Roger Bacon (21-5) for a district title at 5 p.m. on Friday at Kings. The Rams swept the Spartans 14-0 and 4-0 during the regular season.
“Winning like this just shows that we will keep digging and digging and digging until we do it,” Badin sophomore pitcher Nicole Rawlings said. “It’s just how we roll.”
The Rams played without unbeaten senior pitcher Danielle Ray, who has yet to receive medical clearance after undergoing an emergency appendectomy last week.
Rawlings has been solid in her stead, and the left-hander threw a six-hitter with seven strikeouts against the third-seeded Mohawks (17-8).
Stitzel said he’s hopeful that Ray will be cleared to play by Friday, even if she plays first base and doesn’t pitch. Rawlings said she’s got no problem with reprising her role as Badin’s pitching workhorse after doing it last year while Ray nursed a back injury.
“I’m ready to do what I need to do to pick her up,” Rawlings said. “I’m fine with it. The circle’s my home.”
Curtner and Schmitt had two hits apiece, Josie Link launched her first prep homer and Allie Link added an RBI for the Rams.
“We had a really tough week, but we’re still here,” Stitzel said. “That was so dramatic. Wow … I don’t know what else to say. We’re going to Friday.”
Josie Link’s one-out solo homer to left field in the fifth inning sparked a Badin offense that had managed just one infield single up to that point. The sophomore was manning the designated player position and batting ninth.
“I was thinking I need to watch the ball. I need to not be nervous and just have fun and get a little hit — any hit helps,” Link said. “I knew I hit it hard. I started running to first and Jeff (Gray) was like, ‘Get out of here.’ I was like, ‘What?’ Then I heard everybody cheering.
“I wasn’t on varsity last year, so everything’s really new, and it’s really great to experience how everybody works together. I’m just really excited to be a part of it, and I’m glad I got to play today.”
Bekah Lenos marked two hits for the Mohawks, and Phelps and Jordan Lykins each drove in a run. Phelps tossed a seven-hitter in the losing effort.
“Give Badin credit,” Madison coach Joe Amstutz said. “They kept battling and took advantage of the few opportunities they had. That walkoff homer … she didn’t miss any of it. We didn’t give it to them. They earned it.”
The Mohawks stranded a pair of runners in the top of the seventh after an unusual sequence of events.
Lenos singled with one out and KenDahl Bowles reached base on an error, putting runners on first and third. Joey Brinegar then popped a ball over the head of Badin first baseman Sam Sander, and Bowles collided with Sander. Allie Link, the Rams’ second baseman, ran over and caught the ball behind Sander, but Lenos tagged up and came home for an apparent 4-2 lead.
Stitzel protested, the umpires huddled, and the ruling was changed. Bowles was out on an obstruction call, Brinegar was awarded first base, and Lenos had to go back to third. Natalie Higgins grounded out to end the inning.
“The fact that Allie just happened to get lucky and get there to catch it didn’t matter,” Stitzel said. “Because the first baseman was going to make the play, that’s obstruction.”
“I guess the ruling was the first baseman needed an opportunity to cover the base, and I said my runner has the right to get back to the base,” Amstutz said. “They ended up ruling obstruction on her. I don’t know if it was 100 percent right, but it was the call that was made, and we’ve got to go forward. We’ve got two seniors on base with Higgins up, and I like my chances there. And she hit the ball hard. It was just right at the second baseman.”
Badin was down to its last out before rallying to beat Fenwick last week.
“We had six girls sick against Fenwick, and then Ray goes down and we have less than 24 hours to try to get the team back together head-wise,” Stitzel said. “We were hitting the ball against Fenwick, but we had a tough time trying to get back into it.”
He also wasn’t happy about the Rams getting two No. 2 votes (behind Carlisle) at the sectional draw.
“When we go to the draw, we never get respect,” Stitzel said. “I thought I should’ve been unanimous No. 1, and there were two Southwest Buckeye League coaches that gave me the No. 2 seed behind Carlisle, a team we beat. All we ever hear is our league’s weak, our schedule’s weak. I just wonder how they feel now. I don’t want to cause anything with these guys, but I just think this was a helluva statement game.”
Amstutz was one of the coaches that voted Badin second. He said nothing he did at the draw was meant to be a sign of disrespect.
“I looked at Carlisle and Badin as pretty much equals,” Amstutz said. “They played early in the year, and it was only a 3-1 ballgame. We had played Carlisle twice and we’ve never played Badin, so I figured what the heck, we’ll go in their bracket. In order to get to the end goal, you know a great team like Badin is going to be there. If you get ’em early, maybe before they get on a roll, you might have a better chance at them.”
Monday was an emotional day for Madison, and not just because of the way the season ended. Immediately after the game, Amstutz informed the team that he’s stepping down after four seasons at the helm.
“I’m not leaving these kids to go coach someplace else,” Amstutz said. “It’s time for me to be a full-time husband and a full-time father. As hard as it is, I feel good that it’s for the right reasons.”
He had to fight back tears as he talked about his decision.
“My wife is basically a single mom during the season, and my kids need me there,” Amstutz said. “I always call these girls my kids, but ultimately I’ve got a 12-year-old, a 10-year-old and a 7-year-old. My kids have known nothing else other than me being a coach.
“I missed my daughter’s first softball game to be here tonight. The very first game she’s ever played, and I missed it. I’ve had my son ask, ‘When is dad getting home from his trip?’ They see me on Sunday and don’t see me until Thursday because I’m gone when they wake up and I get home after they go to sleep. If I do coach a youth team or rec team, there’s going to be at least one kid on there with the last name Amstutz.”
He said Madison softball will continue to be successful when he’s gone, though the program will miss the six-member senior class of Bowles, Higgins, Lykins, Lenos, Brinegar and Kenzie Oney.
“When all six of those kids are playing up to their potential, they’re very tough to beat. They’re great kids too,” Amstutz said. “It’s been a great ride for me, but somebody else will take the reins of this ship and they’ll keep moving on. They’ve got a great nucleus coming back, and the junior high has got some talent coming.
“When we break at the end of a game, it’s usually ‘Mohawk pride’ or ‘Mohawk pride wins’ after a win. Tonight, Natalie Higgins said, ‘How about Mohawk pride forever?’ So that was our break. That’s how it ended.”
Madison 000-201-0—3-6-2
Badin 000-011-2—4-7-3
WP — Nicole Rawlings (11-1); LP — Taylor Phelps (15-7); HR — B: Josie Link, Maddie Curtner. Records: M 17-8, B 27-1
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