WEST POINT — There was no end in sight in the second inning of Thursday night’s game between West Point softball and Columbus.
To that point, the Green Wave had scored eight runs before the first out of the inning was recorded.
Sophomore Tatum Berry wasn’t ready to make that first out, coming up to the plate with the bases loaded. She wasted no time, crushing a pitch in her wheelhouse to the right-center field gap.
The Falcons were shaded in, and it quickly became a foot race between Berry and the outfielders. Berry won the race, crossing home after an inside-the-park grand slam as West Point won, 20-3, in three innings.
“She threw me one right down the middle,” Berry said. “I told myself before I got up there that whatever she throws, I’m swinging hard. I put a good swing on it and it went.”
To that point, West Point (7-3, 1-3 in district) had yet to win a district game, getting run ruled in their most recent game by New Hope.
Tonight was a different story despite Columbus jumping out to an early 2-0 lead.
Berry started on the mound for the Green Wave and hung a few pitches in the middle of the zone, but she quickly settled down.
West Point put up a three-spot in the bottom of the first and then came a 17-run second inning, one that included two inside-the-park homers and a ton of walks from Falcon pitching.
“This was one of the biggest games of the year because it is a district game,” West Point head coach Nathan Ellis said. “Top three go to the postseason. We usually battle it out to see who goes to the playoffs. We just needed to make sure we did our job and be patient at the plate.”
It was a tough night for the Falcons, who just couldn’t seem to find the plate at all.
When they did find the plate, the Green Wave made them pay, but it was walks, passed balls and wild pitches above all that killed momentum for Columbus.
“We’re kind of behind on pitching, but we try to make it work with what we have,” Columbus head coach Kaitlin Bradley said. “We work with what we got. That’s all we can do.”
The Falcons had a significant chance for a late rally in the bottom of the third inning as Berry struggled to find the plate.
She eventually loaded the bases with two down, but was able to settle down, getting a strikeout to end the game in a run-rule victory.
“Being a pitcher is tough,” Berry said. “You have to be your biggest cheerleader. It’s hard to keep yourself up in times like that, but you just have to prepare yourself to keep going and throw strikes. I knew my defense had me, so that’s what I did.”
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