Comeback Kids author another miracle

OXFORD, Ala. — The Comeback Kids added another chapter to their 2021 softball season late Wednesday night, this time finished off by a pitcher who didn't have a hit at the start of the night and a velocity-challenged, shall we say, baserunner.

Emaleigh Coates (Fr., Lucedale /George County) lashed a double in the right-center gap to score K.K. Agner (Fr., Horn Lake/Magnolia Heights) from first base to end a nine-inning classic. The Bulldogs (35-15) trailed by five early but beat Murray State 8-7 in an elimination game at the NJCAA Division II Softball Championship.

"I have never ran so fast in my life," Agner said. "Last time I did it, I got out. I was not getting out this time."

Agner grounded into a fielder's choice to replace Rakeya Travis (So., Poplarville/Poplarville) at first. After a pop-up, Coates stepped to the plate, and she didn't wait long.

"I just saw a fastball," she said. "I knew I had been chasing the riseball all night long, and I said she's about to come in with a fastball and I'm about to hit it."

Hit it she did, and Agner galloped the 180 feet to victory to pick up a win for Anna Avant (So., Water Valley/Water Valley). The fourth pitcher of the day, Avant allowed an inherited runner to score, but nothing else.

She struck out two in five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and getting key double plays in the sixth and ninth innings to evade trouble.

Avant did that after pitching well in a 4-1 loss to Jones earlier in the day.

"I was ready to roll," she said. "I was pumped up, because I've been feeling lately that this is my last tournament because I'm not playing next year. There's no way this is ending tonight. I'm coming in and doing everything I can and give it all I've got. That's what I did."

Murray State (41-12) scored twice in the second and four times in the third to build a 6-1 advantage.

Gulf Coast got four runs back in the fourth, starting with Agner's RBI double. Briana Shores (So., Richland/Richland) singled to center, and a run scored on an error on the play. Abby Vance (Fr., Calhoun City/Calhoun City), another pitcher pressed into service at the plate, smacked a double into the left-field corner to plate two more and it was 6-5.

The Aggies got a run in the fifth before a crazy bottom of the frame left it tied. The Bulldogs got their first four runners on, but the first was erased trying to steal. Shores hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Kristian Jones (Fr., Southaven/DeSoto Central). Travis took off to third, drawing a throw, setting Agner off for second. That throw allowed Travis to score and tie the game.

"We find a way to come back," Long said. "It's just so much fun when we come back like that. I think Anna Mills (Avant) came in later in the game, and we got behind her. We just play good when she's pitching."

After the craziness, it took four more innings to end things, and it ended with additional kookiness. It left the Bulldogs scratching their heads about Thursday.

 "I don't even know who we play," Long said. "We'll find out in a little bit, but I think we'll be rested up tomorrow and be ready to play at 2 o'clock."

Seventh-seeded Gulf Coast will play sixth-seeded Kirkwood in the stadium in another elimination game. The winner will get another game later in the day.

Jones, Travis, Shores, Coates and Whitley Tanner had two hits each for Gulf Coast, which pounded out 14 safeties.

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