BY GENE DELORENZO
WEST RUTLAND — In a game loaded with plenty of tense moments, the Proctor Ghosts pulled out a victory by a whisker Tuesday night, May 24, as the Westside Golden Horde came back from a 5-run outburst in the top of the first inning to post six runs in the sixth inning and take an unbelievable 11-8 lead going into the top of the seventh.
From there, it was a miraculous comeback by the Ghosts to score four and take a 12-11 edge going into the bottom of the seventh and then hold Westside scoreless to win by one.
Both teams kept their pitching aces in the game for the entire seven innings, with Peyton Guay on the mound for West Rutland and Cadence Goodwin toeing the rubber for Proctor.
In the top of the first, Laci French knocked in a couple runs with a bases-loaded single as Proctor jumped to a 5-0 lead.
With Guay pitching, however, the Golden Horde settled down after the explosive first and contained the Ghosts’ hitters for much of the next six innings.
Meanwhile, Proctor’s Goodwin held Westside’s batters to a few runs here and there, with both defenses holding steady for most of the game, until the Golden Horde’s explosive sixth inning.
After two and a half innings, Proctor led 6-3, as West Rutland scored three in the bottom of the second with Guay circling the bases off her single to right field.
Both teams scored in the third inning to make it 6-4. Guay singled, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out with an exceptional play by shortstop Rhi Lubaszewski to first base for the out.
Westside would score in the fourth inning to move to 6-5 with a two-out single by Kenna Wright-Chapman. Proctor would come back to score two more on a Lubaszewski single, a misplaced fly ball for a run, and another run on a wild pitch, making it 8-5 going into the bottom of the fifth.
Westside threatened in the bottom of the fifth, but Goodwin got a big third strikeout with runners on second and third to keep it at 8-5.
The Hordes’ bats came to life in their big sixth inning as they got a two-run double by Arianna Coombs and a three-run triple by Samara Raiche to grab an 11-8 lead going into the seventh inning.
With the fans on the edge of their seats, Proctor came to the plate and rallied with four more runs to make it 12-11 Proctor would get on first with a walk, then Jenna Davine knocked a solid double for the score and to set up the inning. From there, an infielder’s error on a throw to first, and later the winning run would score on a bases-loaded walk.
Westside would have a final at bat in the bottom of the seventh, but Goodwin was stellar, retiring Westside 1-2-3 on two ground-out singles and a pop-up to shortstop Lubaszewski to end one very exciting game.
Editor’s note: This story reported by Gene DeLorenzo from the field and written by Angelo Lynn.
