Jonathan Ferris
Staff writer
Two softball champions were crowned Wednesday.
After winning their semifinal matchups, the men’s bracket featured Scared Hitless and Sons of Pitches while the women were represented by the Hart A and Alpha Gamma Delta teams.
The men began first and after a hard fought game, Sons of Pitches held on with a 5-3 victory over Scared Hitless.
“I think they will represent Murray State really well,” Greg Deahl, Scared Hitless team member, said. “They were nothing but respectful to us and I think they will play really strongly.”
The second game of the week was the women’s championship matchup. Alpha Gamma Delta was coming off its huge win over Alpha Omicron Pi Tuesday night and was ready to end their season victorious.
However, Hart began the game with other plans in mind. Jenny Russell made it to third base, allowing Morgan West to drive her home with a one-run single, giving Hart the first run of the game.
After some great defense by both teams, the Gams came out strong in the bottom of the third. Stephanie Green drove a single into the outfield and, to the crowd’s delight, team captain Whitney Gardner drove Green home with a line-drive double and evened the game at 1-1.
The first two runs proved important as stellar defense, including a diving stop in the fourth by Hart’s shortstop, would keep the game even through the full six innings.
The championship would be decided in extras.
In the top of the eighth, Jenny Russell hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a Hart runner from third, putting Hart in position to take home the championship.
Needing one run to stay alive, and two to win the championship, the Gams started the bottom of the eighth with consecutive hits. With runners on first and third, Lacey Walker smacked a double to left, bringing home one run and keeping Alpha Gamma Delta alive.
With one out, Lacey Walker advanced to third and Emily Bebout came to bat. Needing only one run for her team to become the champs, Bebout lofted a tall fly to left field. Walker tagged up and beat the throw from the outfield, sealing her team’s victory.
By a score of 3-2, Alpha Gamma Delta won the 2011 Women’s Intramural Championship.
Championship hero Walker said she was ready to run when standing on third base as the potential winning run.
“I knew there was just one out and I was just going to sprint when it was hit and if I got out I got out, but I ended up safe and it was awesome,” she said. “Our coach, Casey Brockman, gave us a very inspirational speech to pump us up for the game and when we got down we all just got together and took our time and didn’t get too hyped up when it was close. We all just came together and pulled out a win.”
Walker said she had fun this season.
“My favorite part of the season was when we had our close games, we all just came together as a team and we had fun and we ended up coming out with the win,” she said.
Gardner delivered for her team in the championship, going 3-for-4 and driving in one of Gamma’s three runs and said she was proud of her team over the season.
“I am so proud of the way we stuck together and stayed positive,” Gardner said. “There wasn’t one time this whole year we ever got down about anything.”
After a hard fought season and an incredibly exciting final two nights, Alpha Gamma Delta took home the title of champions.
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