Anyone looking for a playoff-like atmosphere in the middle of April needed to turn no further than to Friday’s softball tilt between Coastal Conference contenders Ocean Lakes and Kellam. The game delivered plenty of drama.
The Dolphins entered as the Beach’s hottest team, riding high on an undefeated record, while the Knights needed to bounce back from a tough loss less than 24 hours earlier to First Colonial.
Kellam’s Cameron Thompson knotted the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly RBI. Third baseman Taylor Telford then rifled a double, putting the winning run on base.
Allie Jarrett took care of the rest.
She blasted a hit off Ocean Lakes pitcher Michelle Lehan to right center field, and Telford jetted to home
plate for the walk-off game-winning run.
“To have the highs and lows and fight from melting to finishing strong was great for us, it was big,” Kellam coach Theresa Jones said after the win. “We just said, ‘Get one at a time (in the bottom of eighth).’ They fought today and they’re getting more confident every day.”
Kellam (4-3) was one out away from ending the game in the top of the seventh, holding a 4-3 lead with no runners on base, when Dolphins power hitter Jessica Goldyn belted a solo home run over the center field wall off Thompson to keep Ocean Lakes’ undefeated season alive temporarily.
The power hitting continued in the top of the eighth, when Dolphins left fielder Chloe Fox launched the go-ahead solo home run to left field, giving Ocean Lakes a 5-4 lead.
Jones said the late-game swing of emotions felt like deja vu from Thursday’s game against First Colonial, when the Knights let a 5-4 lead slip away late.
“We just said, ‘Settle down, take a deep breathe, we’ll come right back,'” Jones relayed to her girls. “It’s going to build our confidence because they found a way.”
It took a lot to give Ocean Lakes (7-1) its first loss of the spring.
From down to their last out in the top of the seventh to clinging onto a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Dolphins showed their resiliency.
“I have a feeling these girls aren’t gonna wanna lose again,” Dolphins coach Jack Wheeler said. “I think this was a good building thing for us as much as it hurts. I have no doubt that they’re gonna respond, they will not go the other way.”
Ocean Lakes opened the scoring in the top of the fourth when Fox’s two-out RBI single to right field scored Alyssa Cowan. Kellam answered in the bottom half of the inning when Jarrett hit a two-run single to give the Knights a 2-1 lead.
In the top of the fifth, Dolphins shortstop Maddy Glaubke stole second base and reached home on two Kellam fielding errors to tie the game at 2-2, but the Knights snagged the lead right back. Bree Thompson singled, scoring Kyleigh Allen-Cason, and Hannah Hummel followed
with a sacrifice RBI that brought Madison Wilson home, giving Kellam a 4-2 lead.
The Dolphins scored one run in the sixth off a Mackenzie Burke RBI sacrifice fly before Goldyn’s game-tying home run in the seventh led to extra softball.
Each starting pitcher went the distance. Lehan allowed six runs off nine hits and three walks and struck out six in 7 1/3 innings. Cameron Thompson gave up five runs off eight hits (two home runs) and two walks while striking out two in eight innings.
Jarrett (three RBIs), Bree Thompson, Hummell and Telford each had two hits for Kellam.
“We’re not quite where we need to be but today was a step closer,” Jones said.
