Marathon Marauders

A senior day beyond their wildest dreams was a reality.

The Panthers were on the verge of beating Monache for the first time in seven tries after Katelyn Ogas’ fifth-inning home run gave them a six-run lead.

But the Marauders (13-11-1, 9-3 EYL), in shocking fashion, plated the six in the final two frames to send the game into extra innings.

A reeling Porterville squad (11-12-1, 6-6 EYL) was able to push the classic contest into the ninth but couldn’t stop the inevitable. 

Chandra Jones scored the winning run on an error and Monache’s defense held off a charge in a chaotic Panther ninth to cap the comeback and ensure an 8-7 victory.

“That was the best game I’ve seen this year,” Monache coach Dave Koontz said. “It had everything. Broken plays, broken hearts. Believe me, I didn’t know we had it won until that third out was done.” 

The Panthers didn’t wilt after Jones’ go-ahead run, however. It looked like the knife was already in Porterville’s back after the EYL’s top hitter, Tanaya Williams, popped out to the catcher, but an error allowed Deanell Dohrmann to reach first and put the tying run aboard.

Katelyn Ogas then reached after another error and Dohrmann tried to capitalize by advancing to third. Her slide into third surprised everyone. The umpires were split on whether Monache third baseman Victoria Jackson tagged her in time or not. 

Panthers coach Lance Wallace thought he was fighting a losing battle but tried to plead his case anyway.

“She was out. From what I saw, I thought they made the right call, but you’ve gotta go out and argue that for Pete’s sake,” Wallace said.

That put all the pressure on right fielder Jane Genoud. But after a long at-bat, Genoud delivered with a high-bouncing single to center, but Ogas was held at third.

Catcher Kailee Doyel then inserted herself into the strange stanza. The freshman felt the pressure a bit and nearly threw the lead away, literally. Doyel, in Rube Baker (“Major League II”) fashion, couldn’t get the ball back to pitcher Katherine Figueroa and threw the ball past her on five separate occasions.

“What a bizarre inning,” Wallace said. “The overthrows to the pitcher. I wish we would’ve been a little more heads-up there. I think maybe we could’ve taken an opportunity and maybe tied that thing up, but it didn’t work out.”

But Koontz calmed her down and fellow freshman Kaitlyne Thompson ended the last Panther chance by stretching out to catch Alyssa Morgan’s pop-up in foul ground. 

“The past two or three years with these girls, I’ve always tried to get them to show some emotion,” Wallace said. “But they were showing some emotion after this one. This was a tough defeat for them. I think those seniors felt like they had that and they just let them slip off the hook.”

Porterville led 7-1 heading into the sixth and Williams had her ‘A’ game on the mound, having fanned seven Marauders up to that point. But Monache began to get good swings with consistency. Jessica Simmonds singled and scored and Victoria Jackson was driven in on Jones’ double to the right-field wall. Thompson’s chopper to center made it 7-4 but second baseman Lane Johnson caught her straying off second base and seemingly got the Panthers out of trouble.

But the onslaught continued in the seventh. Emily Raya, Lakyn Cabeje and Simmonds each singled to load the bases and put the Panther faithful at DefCon 1. 

Chelsea Duldulao and Jackson each notched RBIs on outs, putting Thompson at the plate with the tying run at third.

Thompson singled up the middle to score Simmonds and continue the seemingly endless supply of clutch play.

“If you want me to admit that I just knew it was gonna happen, I’d have a bridge to sell you,” Koontz said. “This team does not quit. There’s no one person that makes this thing go; they’ve really turned into a team.”

Wallace saw his team get a bit ahead of itself after getting the rare lead over its rival.

“We were confident, maybe too much so,” he said. “We talk with the girls about keeping the foot on their neck and we let up. We got too confident and we stopped scoring runs because we thought we had the game won.”

Figueroa, who tossed the first four innings, re-entered the game in the seventh after Kelsey McCabe gave up four runs. The senior held the Panthers scoreless in her final three innings of work. 

“I was nervous but I know how to get it done,” Figueroa said. “Our team just has a lot of heart. We had to come back and we did.”

Jones led off the ninth with a single and stole second after the ball squirted out of Stevee Thomas’ glove. She stole third and after Dohrmann and third baseman Rochelle Lupio couldn’t connect on the throw.

Dohrmann had a two-run single in the fifth while Ogas finished with a double, a home run and four RBIs.

“I was ready to give (Ogas) the game ball right there but I gotta find a league that plays only three innings,” Wallace said.

Monache and Porterville have both qualified for the Division II and III playoffs, respectively. Brackets to be announced Saturday.