Ferguson's walk-off HR clinches district title for Lady Vikings

WELLSTON — With the potential winning run on first base in the bottom of the seventh inning, Southern Lady Tornadoes’ pitcher Jaylyn Hupp knew she had to be careful.

Hupp was facing Symmes Valley junior slugger Marley Ferguson, a Valparaiso commit who had 10 home runs on the season.

As it turned out, she wasn’t careful enough.

Following a leadoff single by Maci Bland, Ferguson connected with the first pitch and drove it deep over the center field fence to give Symmes Valley a 6-4 win and the Division 7 district title.

The home run capped a back-and-forth battle for the lead that included a key performance by Lady Vikings’ pitcher Brenna Tibbs to squash a Southern threat in the top of the seventh.

The win gave the Lady Vikings (25-3) their third-straight district title.

"(Southern) came to play. I watched them four different times this year, and they looked like a different team compared to today," said Lady Vikings coach Jeff "Odie" Estep. "We were able to make the right plays at the right time and win."

The thrilling finish was set up in the top of the seventh when Southern manufactured two runs to tie the game.

With one out, Hupp doubled into right to score Lainey Smith from second. Then a base hit from Taylor Roberts found a hole on the right side of the infield to put runners on second and third.

Southern tied the game at 4-all when Kierston Rose chopped a 1-0 pitch to the right side and allowed Hupp to score ahead of a throw home for the tag.

The Tornadoes wouldn't be able to gain the lead as Brenna Tibbs struck out the next batter and got Ali Norris to ground out to end the top half of the inning and strand the go-ahead runner at third.

The key pitching from Tibbs to get out of the jam and Maci Bland got a key leadoff hit to set the table for the walk-off win.

"I was walking out for the seventh, I walked by Maci (Bland) and said Maci, where else would we want to be at today? Go out there and get me a hit. And she lined a hit in her at bat to set the table for Marley and then Marley did what Marley’s does.”

The Lady Vikings finished with 11 hits on the day, with three different batters having multi-hit games. Maci Bland went 3-of-4 at the plate, including a leadoff solo homer on the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the third to give her team a 2-0 lead.

Ferguson went 2-3 with an RBI base hit in the first inning to go along with her game-winning homer. Natalie Simpson went 2-3 and had a 2-RBI double in the fifth inning to break up a 2-2 tie and put the Lady Vikings in front until the seventh.

Addy Hawk had a double. Tibbs, Kaycee Thompson, and Lindsey Freeman each collected a hit in the win.

Tibbs picked up the win in a complete game effort. The senior hurler struck out 9 batters while giving up 8 hits, 2 earned runs and a pair of walks.

Hupp finished 2-4 with a double and an RBI, but took the loss for the Lady Tornadoes.

Southern 000 020 2 = 4 8 3

Sym. Valley 101 020 2 = 6 11 2

Jaylynn Hupp and Nevaeh Camp. Brenna Tibbs and Kaycee Thompson. W-Tibbs (IP-7.0, H-8, R-4, ER-2, K-9, BB-2, WP-1). L-Hupp (IP-6.0, H-11, R-6, ER-3, K-1, BB-3). Hitting–Southern: Lydia Smith 1-4 2B, Jaylynn Hupp 2-4 2B RBI, Taylor Roberts 1-4, Kierston Rose 1-3 RBI, Kianna Rose 2-4 2B, Ali Norris 1-4 2-RBI; Symmes Valley: Brenna Tibbs 1-4, Maci Bland 3-4 HR RBI, Marley Ferguson 2-3 HR 3-RBI, Kaycee Thompson 1-2, Natalie Simpson 2-3 2B 2-RBI, Lindsey Freeman 1-3, Addy Hawk 1-3 2B.