Underwood SB Stuns TC on Patomson Walk-Off Inside-The-Park HR, 10-9

Underwood's Ruby Patomson (7-8-24)

Underwood SB Stuns TC on Patomson Walk-Off Inside-The-Park HR, 10-9 –

(7-8-24) – On Monday, it was a Ruby that shone brightest on the diamond.

Underwood’s Ruby Patomson hit a two-out, 3-run inside-the-park walk-off home run to cap off a 7-run 7th and shock Tri-Center by 10-9 final in the opening round of the Class 2A-Region 3 softball playoffs.

Patomson, who was down to her final strike in the at-bat, told KNOD Sports that making an out was not on her mind.

“When I got two strikes on me, I knew I had to hug the line because she was pitching me inside and it either I would get hit (or) walked. I was just approaching it like I'm not going to strike out. I need to get these runs in like I they need me. I was either going to get hit, hit the ball, or I was not striking out.”

The hit finished a wild rally that saw the Eagles erase a 9-0 deficit to the Trojans heading into the bottom of the 5th. Patomson would get Underwood on the board with an RBI single in the 5th to drive in Mary Stephens, the 3rd consecutive hit to start the inning for the Eagles. That was followed by a sac fly by Alissa Fischer to make the score 9-2.

In the 6th, a two-out single by Claire Cook drove in Lilly McHenry and had Underwood down by 6 heading to the final inning.

Tri-Center took advantage of several miscues by Underwood in the 3rd to put a 5 spot on the board and take the lead. The first four batters of inning reached on a pair of singles and a pair of errors to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead. Another error on a fielder’s choice allowed a 2nd runner to score before Natalie Ausdemore drove in 2 runs with a double and Kaitlin Kozeal followed with an RBI single.

The Trojans got 4 more runs in 5th, capped off by a 2-RBI double by Kozeal and it looked like they were in complete command. Caitlin Greiner had given up 5 hits but no runs to that point.

But Patomson and the Eagles knew what they needed to do to get back in it.

“We just had to get runners on, and then when big hitters came up, we knew we just had to get our RBI's in. So we were just locked in.”

The rally puts Underwood in the quarterfinals of Class 2A-Region 3 against Treynor on Wednesday.

Tri-Center’s season ends with a record of 8-22.

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