By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
FORSYTH — With McKenzie Wilson drawing confidence in herself from her Sparta teammates, she delivered a sixth inning solo home run to lift the Lady Trojans past Forsyth 3-2 in the Class 2 District 6 championship game Tuesday.
Wilson had been 0-for-2 and struck out in her second at-bat leading up to her homer with two outs in the sixth. Her sixth home run on the season broke a 2-all tie.
“I was thinking, ‘I really need to hit the ball,’ because I’d been struggling,’” Wilson said. “Even though I wasn’t doing good, I knew everybody still knew I could do it. I needed to prove it to myself that I could do it.”
“The whole game she was struggling and it was getting in her head. She gets in her head a lot,” winning pitcher Natalie Wilks said. “She finally got a hold of one and it was a good time to do it.”
Wilson turned her night around with one mighty swing and also changed the emotions of both sides dramatically.
Forsyth had momentum on its side and then all of a sudden, the momentum went to Sparta.
Sparta had seen Megan Brown and Wilks both pop up to start the Lady Trojans’ half of the sixth. Brown and Wilks both entered the final hitting .500-plus.
“You had just watched your two best hitters go down and you’re thinking, ‘Where are we going to be in our lineup when we hit in the bottom of the seventh?’ And we were coming up to the top of their lineup,” Sparta coach Troy McPherson said. “Kenzie came up huge.”
“This means a lot, especially for our seniors,” Wilson said. “I wanted to play with them again.”
Forsyth pitcher Kloe Hendrickson credited the left-handed hitting Wilson for pulling her outside offering and sending the ball a good 15-20 feet over the right-field fence.
“I got their two best hitters out and was thinking, ‘Whatever it takes to get the last out,’” Hendrickson said. “It was a drop ball and it was outside. She put a good swing on it and took it yard. There was not much else I could have done about it. It was a heck of a swing by her. She cranked it. Kudos to her.”
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Both Forsyth and Sparta put up a run in the first inning.
The Lady Panthers went up 2-1 in the third, when McKenzie Calhoun singled, stole second base, made it to third on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI-groundout by Emmy Blevins.
The Lady Trojans tied it up at 2, thanks to an RBI-triple by Averi Leyland in the fourth.
Wilks shut out Forsyth (18-14) over the final four innings.
“This was our last chance at getting a District title. Our emotions were high,” Wilks said. “I didn’t let it get to my head. I had to think of it as a regular game.”
Hendrickson turned in an admirable performance in an underdog role. Her experience as a pitcher is primarily only two seasons and the majority of the innings she threw last season were on jayvee level.
She shut out Strafford 6-0 in the semifinal round Monday.
“I worked on a lot more (on pitching) in the off-season because I was told I might close some innings or start some games,” Hendrickson said. “Then, Lindsey (Essary) went down with a shoulder injury and (coaches) said, ‘Hey, you’re up.’ I took advantage of the opportunity. I’m always going to do whatever is best for my team. Whatever is going to help us win, I’m going to do.
“I wasn’t expecting to shut (Strafford) out,” she added. “Then, the end of the game came and it was 6-0 and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness!’ I was a little tired today. I tried to pitch through (the fatigue).”
Sparta (26-4) advances to meet Mt. Vernon (34-1) in the Quarterfinal round next week.
