By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Jenna Lane swung, yelled and forgot where she was.
It’s not easy handling the emotions of a go-ahead grand slam in a state playoff game.
Lane’s grand slam in the bottom of the sixth lifted Logan-Rogersville to an 8-7 win over McDonald County in a Class 3 sectional on Wednesday night.
“I screamed running the bases,” Lane said. “I thought I was going to run into somebody. I didn’t where I was going.”
While you might not expect such a powerful swing from a 5’1” sophomore, it was actually Lane’s third homer of the season.
“Jenna’s had an awesome year,” said Wildcats coach Denny McHenry. “She’s hit balls that hard all year; she just hasn’t elevated them except for her two home runs – and they were long, long fly balls down the line.”
Said Lane, the team’s starting catcher and five-hole hitter: “I’m known for being small. 5’1” isn’t ideal, but I have to use my power how I can.”
Lane’s grand slam put Logan-Rogersville ahead 8-5 at the time.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The Wildcats withstood a Mustangs rally in the seventh – McDonald County scored twice and had runners on second and third when the final out was made – to advance to the state quarterfinals for just the second time (2015) in program history.
Logan-Rogersville (24-6 overall) will play at Helias Catholic (23-5 overall) this Saturday in the quarterfinal round, with start time still pending. The Crusaders blanked Bolivar 6-0 in a Class 3 sectional on Wednesday night.
Logan-Rogersville’s never reached the final four in softball.
“Huge deal. Huge, huge deal,” Lane said of advancing to the quarterfinals. “This is what we talk about all day in practice, all day in school.”
Logan-Rogersville battled back from multiple deficits.
The Mustangs (21-3 overall), who were no-hit in a 3-0 loss at Logan-Rogersville on Oct. 3, put up three runs in the top of the first. Whitney Kinser had a two-run homer and Madeline McCall added an RBI double.
“I’m thinking, ‘Let’s just survive,’” McHenry said.
The Wildcats tied the in win the fourth, but McDonald County went ahead 5-3 in the fifth on a two-run homer by Kaylee Eberley – the first homer of her career.
Logan-Rogersville cut the deficit to 5-4 in the fifth on freshman Cassidy Coambes’ RBI single.
The game turned out far different than the Oct. 3 meeting, which featured three total hits.
The side was retired in order only once – McDonald County in the top of the sixth.
Both teams had the same starting pitchers (McCall for McDonald County and freshman Halle Miles for Logan-Rogersville) on Wednesday night.
“We knew (a no-hitter) wasn’t happening again,” McHenry said. “And it didn’t happen after the first at-bat.”
Miles finished with four strikeouts and 12 hits allowed.
