LAPEL — Head coach Scott Rich is still trying to figure out his Lapel Bulldogs. After Thursday’s loss to Madison-Grant, he knows two things: his team is pretty good, and the players don’t seem to know it.
Ellie Alcala drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 12th inning, and a Bulldog rally in the bottom half of the inning came up just short, as the Argylls edged Lapel 5-3 in Madison County semifinal action.
Madison-Grant (5-2) will play Pendleton Heights in the championship game at noon Saturday, while Lapel (3-3) will play Frankton for third place at 10 a.m. Both games will be played at Pendleton Heights.
The Bulldogs forced extra innings when a sacrifice fly by junior Taylor Murdock brought sophomore Addie Bailey home with the tying run in the bottom of the seventh.
The game remained 3-3 until the Argylls struck for two in the top of the 12th. Lapel had runners on second and third with two out in the bottom of the inning, but Murdock’s bid for a game-tying hit was flagged down in right field to end the game.
“I told our kids before the game that, depending on which (Lapel) team showed up, this could be a hard-fought game,” Rich said. “Unfortunately, we just flinched at the wrong time.”
Senior Brooke Daniels pitched all 12 innings for the Bulldogs, allowing three earned runs on 10 hits. Her effort drew nothing but praise from her coach.
“Oh, my God,” Rich said. “A gutty, gutty performance. A great performance by her. Probably about the 10th, I noticed she had lost a little of her velocity. But she ended up finding it in the 11th and the 12th. I had Chloe (Bousman) warming up a little bit, but I didn’t want to take the ball from her. She had battled for 11 innings, how do you take it from her? She didn’t deserve to lose tonight.”
The Bulldogs had an early 2-1 lead on RBI hits by junior Jasmine Hazelbaker and sophomore Kylie Rich. Sophomore Addie Bailey had three hits and scored twice for Lapel.
