8th grader’s 1st homer helps Douglass softball split season series with Bryan Station
Frederick Douglass eighth grader Savannah Wombles picked a good time to hit the first home run of her life.
The Broncos’ primary starter in the circle this season hasn’t been known much for her offense, but she helped her own cause Friday by smacking a solo home run over the left-field fence in the top of the seventh inning to give Douglass a 2-1 lead on its way to splitting its regular season series with 42nd District rival Bryan Station.
“It felt really good, especially since we were tied,” said Wombles, who had never hit a homer at any level of play until that moment.
Wombles allowed just two hits in grabbing her ninth win of the season, but she was lifted after walking Bryan Station’s leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore Haley McGuire secured the save despite giving up a walk, too. A flyout, strikeout and groundout stranded two Bryan Station runners and ended the game.
“When we just continue to stick with what we do and execute what we do, we win a lot of games,” Douglass coach Jason McGuire said. “When we deviate from that is when stuff goes south for us.”
It’s uncertain whether the Broncos’ game plan included Wombles’ homer, but they’ll take it.
“She’s grown so much,” Haley McGuire said. “Last year, I would have never guessed she would have done something like that. … It was really big for her.”
Locked in a pitchers’ duel with Bryan Station ace Karsyn Rockvoan, Wombles gave up the tying run to her counterpart in the bottom of the fourth inning when Rockvoan launched a homer into the berm behind the fence in right-center to make it 1-1.
Rockvoan’s blast answered a homer by Jarynn Bowman that gave Douglass a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth.
In the circle, Rockvoan dodged a bases loaded, no-out situation in the top of the fifth inning as Douglass put runners on via a sharp come-backer that glanced off Rockvoan’s glove, a squib-hit to first and a bunt-turned-fielder’s choice when Bryan Station couldn’t make a play on it.
Rockvoan knuckled down with two strikeouts and an infield pop fly to escape the frame unscathed.
Earlier in the game, Rockvoan, a junior who has started for Bryan Station since eighth grade, celebrated a milestone moment as she topped 1,000 strikeouts for her career. She had 13 Ks against Douglass.
“She’s a fantastic pitcher,” Coach McGuire said.
Douglass’ victory virtually assures the Broncos (18-7, 3-2) and Bryan Station (14-6, 4-2) will meet again in the win-or-go-home 42nd District Tournament semifinals as the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds in two weeks. Douglass swept the regular season series with Station last year, but lost 2-1 in the 42nd District championship game.
Bryan Station beat Douglass 1-0 on May 2 in a game where each pitcher only gave up two hits. A Douglass walk and an error in the first inning of that game put the winning run in scoring position for Brooke Weathers’ game-winning RBI single.
“It’s just a big rivalry,” said Jarynn Bowman, whose cousin Tiahna Bowman plays shortstop for the Defenders. “Ever since I’ve been here, it’s been big. Playing against my cousin, I always want to beat her.”
Douglass faces No. 8 Scott County on Monday in another district battle, but the Broncos would need to beat the Cardinals by a significant number of runs to take over the district’s top seed via tiebreaker rules.
“We’ve put the work in. We’ve wanted it. Now we just need to go win …,” Coach McGuire said. “I feel comfortable with every game we’ve got left.”
