3A SOFTBALL: Enka stuns CBA with game-ending walk-off home run

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on June 5, 2016 1:47 AM

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By JUSTIN HAYES

jhayes@newsargus.com

GREENSBORO -- If the final scene of Friday night's N.C. High School Athletic Association 3-A softball championship series game one was difficult to watch, its alternate-cut encore was horrifying.

Charles B. Aycock, after rallying to take a 3-2 lead in its half of a wild seventh inning, watched in shock as Enka's Addison Harris delivered a three-run, walk-off homer moments later to capture a second consecutive title for the school and in the process, end a remarkable run by the Golden Falcons, who ended the year 29-4 overall.

The scoreboard-rattling blast elicited chorused mania from the Enka faithful, and dazed confusion amongst most others gathered at UNCG's Spartan Stadium.

As endings go, the 5-3 Enka victory was as dramatic as it gets.

Aycock, which managed nine base hits in the opener versus Courtney Pearson, opened slowly at the plate in game two. Through five innings, the Pikeville nine authored just two hits -- a Hannah Vinson bloop single in the first inning, and a chalk-walking rope down the third-base line by catcher Abbie Walton two innings later.

Pearson, in what turned out to be her final prep start, showed no signs of playoff-run fatigue. Operating on what seemed to be the second leg of an auto-piloted series, the righty allowed just three runs on eight hits.

The complete-game, three-strikeout effort drew praise from head coach Jennifer Kruk.

"Courtney is a stud," she said of her ace. "I can't say enough about her. She's been phenomenal for all four years. I'm really going to miss that kid."

Her support came in the form of Harris, who plated second baseman Kloyee Anderson with an RBI single in the first inning. And until an Aycock outburst five frames later, the first baseman's early plate work appeared to be enough for victory.

But the Pikeville Express wasn't finished.

Trailing 2-0, Aycock's Taylor Puetz began the sixth with a single to right field, and was followed by Abbie Walton's gap-shot to left center. The rope -- her second of the afternoon -- scored Puetz and provided the blues a much-needed shot in the arm.

Mookie Powell then legged out a bunt, and when courtesy runner Georgia Parnell's head-first slide into home was ruled safe, Pikeville Nation launched into bedlam.

Tie ball game.

Pearson, however, settled and retired the side with a pop-up to second base, but the message was clear -- Aycock wasn't done.

Taylor Waddell managed Enka with caution in the sixth, pitching around an infield error and guiding Aycock out of a potential Enka rally. The nervy work was part of another gritty postseason performance for the junior, one in which she allowed eight hits and filed two strikeouts.

Cassandra Lassiter whistled a single up the middle to begin the final inning, and was scored three batters later when leadoff ace Connor Vinson -- played by Enka all series long as a slap-happy runner -- took Pearson and her mates for a surprise trip to right field.

Lassiter, hustling from second, scored.

Pikeville Nation, its heart rate nearing critical mass, erupted.

Aycock 3, Enka 2.

After Enka's Brittany Fletcher reached on an infield hit, an Aycock throwing error shifted the dynamic from joyous to slightly concerned.

With two on and none out, Waddell faced Harris -- who would provide the crowd a moment for the ages.

"I told her... keep it away, mix your pitches up," skipper Lavon Matthews said of his talk with Waddell. "Don't give her anything good to hit. She just missed her spot."

And the senior, whose two home runs and 7 RBI earned her series MVP honors, took full advantage.

The blast -- a square-to-square, no-doubt-about-it thump -- caromed off the top right quadrant of the UNCG scoreboard and bounced back into play. If anything, the moment produced greater shock than joy.

Game over.

The series -- make that thrill ride -- witnessed highs and lows for both ball clubs, and ended in a way only something this meaningful can, with laughter and tears.

"It's awesome," Kruk said of her team's consecutive titles. "Crazy awesome. This program is built on hard work... but they're (Aycock) a good team. A really good team."

Indeed they are.

And as one might imagine, the powder blue dugout was a tapestry of raw emotion in the immediate aftermath. There was shock value, sadness and stoicism. There should have been.

And then there was Matthews, the man they call "Grandad," gathering a bucket of softballs and his carry bag, marked USMC. With tact and a hollow timbre in his voice, the old ball coach could only praise his team.

"I lose three seniors that were a very important part of this team," Matthews said. "But we'll be back."

Better believe it.