Tough loss knocks Tide out of first

The Columbia girls’ softball team has done the unexpected this season.


Not only have they won 10 games for the first time in school history, but have also qualified for the District Three playoffs for the first time in school history. And, they still have a chance to qualify for the Lancaster-Lebanon League playoffs. To do that, in the immortal words of the Oakland Raiders, all they have to do is “Just Win Baby!”

But as the team grows in terms of experience and gets into position to win consistently, they still have moments where they revert back to their old ways of not making the plays.

That was the key Friday afternoon in Kinzers as the Tide battled Pequea Valley for first place in Section 4 of the L-L League. Columbia didn’t make the plays at the end and lost to the Valley Braves, 5-4 to fall out of first place.

First place now belongs to Annville-Cleona, who is 9-3 and the Braves, who are 8-3. The Tide fell to 8-4 in league play and 10-5 overall.

The Tide and Valley Braves were deadlocked entering the bottom of the seventh. With Emily Detz settling in for the Tide and the Brave mound combo of Kayla Wallace and Kasey Williams holding off the Tide, there was a strong possibility the battle for first place might be going to extra innings.

But...

Pequea Valley used some small ball to win the game. They opened the inning with their first three batters using the bunt to make the Tide field the ball. The first batter reached on a base hit and moved to second when the throw from Tide catcher Ashlyn Phillips sailed past first. Now with the winning run on second, the next PV hitter was called out for being out of the batter’s box on another bunt. Hitter number three also laid a perfect bunt down and moved to second on another error. Tide coach Brad Brubaker elected to intentionally walk the fourth batter of the inning to load the sacks. But the fifth batter of the inning found a hole over first for a bloop hit to win the game.

That wasn’t where the Tide lost this one.

They had bigger problems in the first inning as well.

Junior fireballer Emily Detz walked the first batter she faced and that, along with a couple of mistakes by the Tide, gave Pequea Valley three runs and an early lead.

The next Brave hitter laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, allowing the previous runner to move to third. Next, a PV batter hit a ground ball to shortstop Allison Michener, who wasn’t sure what to do with the ball allowing the Braves to score. That batter, along with anther batter, who got the only hit of the inning scored, following an error by Tide second sacker Kayla Ortman.

All three runs in the inning were gift wrapped by the Tide.

In a big game such as this one, three runs might be tough to overcome. But it was no problem for the Tide against PV hurler Wallace in the second.

Freshman Phillips slugged a triple to right to start the inning. Columbia got on the board when Michener singled. Next up, Ortman reached on an error by the PV second baseman. Kayla Lambert then reached on an error to load the bases. Emily Nobile then reached on a bunt as a run scored. Alexis Eckman made the first out of the inning, grounding to second, but a run scored and the Tide was ahead, 4-3. It could have been worse, but the Tide had a runner thrown out at third.

The game started to settled down.

PV tied the game at 4-4 in the fourth on a walk and double.

In the fifth, Detz doubled and moved to third with one out, but the Tide couldn’t score.

Columbia got another runner in the sixth when Michener walked, but was left stranded.

And then it all came down to the bottom of the seventh.