Skyline claims Class 2 state title on 12th-inning walk-off single

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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

SPRINGFIELD — The 12th inning of the Class 2 championship game was poised to end like so many of the ones before it — scoreless, with Skyline unable to drive in the runners who reached base against the pitcher who is perhaps the only one in the state as good as its own.

With two outs in the frame and a pop-up heading directly toward three Potosi players, the Tigers were about to ask Lilly Whitten to step back into the circle for an unprecedented 13th time, hoping she could continue to go toe-to-toe with a pitcher who struck them out 28 times.

Keelie Holmes began to run home from third base — as one does with two outs — on the off chance Ella Dougherty’s pop-up would somehow find green in a sea of purple jerseys.

And then it did — and the Tigers were state champions.

Holmes scored the only run in what instantly became one of the greatest softball games ever played in the state of Missouri, as Whitten outdueled Potosi ace Samantha Huck to lead the Tigers to a 1-0 walk-off victory on Sunday and secured the school’s first state title in the sport.

Returning to the Killian Softball Complex less than 24 hours after they each threw complete-game shutouts in the semifinals, Huck and Whitten combined to throw nearly 350 pitches and record 45 strikeouts in a heavyweight battle that lasted 2 hours, 53 minutes.

Huck, who threw a no-hitter against Diamond on Saturday, carried one into the seventh inning of Sunday’s game before Skyline’s Jorden Hodges broke it up with a one-out single.

Whitten was even better, holding the Trojans hitless until they finally broke through with one out in the eighth. She ended the night with 17 strikeouts, while Huck finished with 28 against a team that had only struck out 91 times through its first 24 games of a record-setting year.

The Tigers (24-1) won the first Mid-Lakes Conference title in school history, followed that victory with their first district championship in 19 years and then reached the Final Four for the first time.

But it was a state championship they sought all along. When Dougherty’s single fell to the ground, they had finally achieved it in one of the most dramatic ways possible.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

“It was probably the best game I have ever coached,” Skyline coach Shawna Bybee said.

Whitten threw 148 pitches, allowing just two hits and six walks in 12 innings.

“Just when you think she’s at her peak — that’s the best she can be — she comes out and has an even better game,” Holmes said. “She’s the best pitcher I’ve ever been able to play with and probably ever will be. She’s a completely different breed.”

The Tigers needed nothing less from Whitten — especially early in the game, when they were unable to touch anything the left-handed Huck threw at them. Skyline put just two balls in play during the first six innings, and Huck struck out the side four times over that span.

But once Hodges singled in the seventh inning, Skyline’s bats began to look more like those of the team that outscored opponents 266-46 prior to Sunday’s game. The Tigers pounded out eight hits over the final six innings, but stranded runners in scoring position five times.

Whitten continued to hold Potosi at bay, her velocity never wavering.

“Lilly is ridiculous,” said Dougherty, her catcher. “I said it once and I’ll say it again. I don’t know what she can’t do. She’s throwing mid-60s for (12) innings. I don’t know anyone else that can do that and who can hold this team like she did and not give up a single run.”

Whitten missed a month of the season with mononucleosis, but showed absolutely no effects of the illness on Sunday. Bybee never worried about Whitten’s stamina, even as her pitch count approached 150. The closest the coach came to being concerned was when Whitten said she was hungry in the sixth inning, but a power bar and trail mix ended that.

“She’s just a competitor,” added Bybee. “I’ve said this since day one. She has the composure. In a game like that, you can get frustrated at your team when you’re not scoring runs when we should — because we are a run-scoring team. But she just kept her composure.”

The Mizzou commit induced a key double play in the ninth inning to eliminate one of Potosi’s biggest scoring threats. Her defense helped too, as Holmes made an incredible throw on an 11th-inning fielder’s choice to get the lead runner out at third base.

“I love them so much,” Whitten said of her teammates. “I know I can count on them defensively and offense-wise. I’m just so proud of them. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of a team than I am of this team.”

Part of that can be attributed to Skyline doing whatever it takes to win. In Holmes’ case, the left-handed hitter moved to the right side for two bunt singles to lead off in the eighth and 10th innings.

“I knew that we just needed base runners at that point,” Holmes said. “We had very few runners on, if any, going into the eighth inning and so I just decided ‘You know what? I haven’t hit right-handed in two years. Let me hit right-handed and see what happens.’”

But after getting stranded at second and third in those frames, she vowed to be even more aggressive on the basepaths the next time she came to bat. She moved back to the left side for the 12th inning and hit a one-out double to left, then advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Dougherty, who was 0-for-5 with four strikeouts, came to the plate with two down.

“I knew she was going to try to get it past the infield to score Keelie,” Bybee said. “And when I went up to her right before she took that swing, she was like ‘Man, I’ve been 0-for all day. Right now is the time, so I know I’m due.’ And she was just funny and relaxed and I was like ‘She’s going to get the job done right here.’”

And she did, taking Huck’s 198th and final pitch to shallow right field where it fell between the second baseman and two outfielders and lifted Skyline to the championship.

“She’s the best pitcher I’ve seen in my entire high school career,” Dougherty said. “And it was cool to go up against her because I know how good she is and I want to be better. I had a rough night, but it’s awesome just to see that kind of pitching and I enjoyed the challenge.”

Dougherty also had a three-run double in Saturday’s semifinal win over Kennett, concluding her high-school career with high-profile hits in her final two games.

“These are the memories I am going to remember for the rest of my life,” Dougherty said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

The win was also special for Bybee, who coached Skyline’s volleyball team to the state quarterfinals in the fall. Many members of the softball team also played volleyball for her, but missed the opportunity to compete for a state championship.

Her mother flew in from California to watch the softball game, which was originally scheduled to be held Saturday before inclement weather pushed it back to Sunday — at the exact same time her return flight was set to depart.

“She changed her flight because I told her this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Bybee said. “I don’t know. I hope I’m back. We always hope we’re back. But you just don’t know. You don’t know. To top this, I mean, I just hope the next group is ready. I hope they’re ready to put in the time like that senior class.”

The three seniors — Dougherty, Holmes and Angelina Curtis — have already graduated, which means Skyline will need to replace the top three hitters in its batting order, its entire middle infield and its starting catcher.

But Whitten, a junior, will return. And as Sunday showed, she can change the entire dynamic of any game.

“She was tunneled in,” Bybee said. “I think the biggest thing that she focused on was this was her last game that she has Ella behind the plate with her. She wanted to pitch as hard and as best as she could for all of those seniors that have put in that time.”

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