BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Cadie Bowles hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh as the Keystone Heights High School softball team defeated visiting Providence 7-6 on Feb. 28.
After Providence scored a run in the top of the seventh to tie the score at 6-6, the Indians had one out with no one on when Shelby Stewart was hit by a pitch. Stewart was replaced by courtesy runner Kaleigh Marquart, who advanced to second on a Bella Cumbo single into right field. Both runners advanced on Tayler Buchanan’s sacrifice bunt.
Bowles then stepped to the plate and hit the first pitch she saw, which brought Marquart home with the game winner.
That capped a 2-for-5 night for Bowles.
Cumbo was the only other batter to finish with multiple hits, going 2 for 3.
Amber Wagner drove in three runs, while Audry Cisco had one RBI.
The Indians (2-2) took a 3-0 lead in the first. Kadence Massey walked with two outs and no one on. Bailey Amato singled, with an error on the play allowing Massey to move all the way to third. After Chloe Still walked, Wagner drove the first pitch she saw into left field for a bases-clearing double.
Providence took a 4-3 lead, with three of its runs being unearned.
Keystone evened the score in the bottom of the third. Massey singled, while Amato reached on an error. After Wagner walked to load the bases, Cisco walked to force a run in.
The Indians went back on top with a run in the fourth. Buchanan hit a triple and scored when the Stallions dropped Massey’s infield pop-up.
Providence scored a run in the fifth, but Keystone evened it up again with a run in the sixth. Bowles his a single, while Massey reached on an error. Another error on a ball hit by Amato scored Bowles.
The Stallions took advantage of a double and an error to tie it up at 6-6 in the top of the seventh.
Cisco pitched the entire game giving up four earned runs and seven hits, while striking out nine.
The win capped a 2-1 week for the Indians that began with a 3-2 win at Tocoi Creek on Feb. 26.
A two-run fifth inning proved to be the difference. With two outs and Bowles on after hitting a single, Massey hit an RBI double. Wagner then reached on an error, which allowed Massey to score, putting the Indians up 3-1.
Amato and Massey each went 2 for 4.
Cisco started in the circle, giving up one unearned run and no hits through four innings. She had four strikeouts.
Massey threw the final three innings, allowing one unearned run and three hits, while striking out three.
On Feb. 27, Keystone lost 8-6 to host Newberry.
The Indians scored five runs in the top of the first. Buchanan and Bowles hit back-to-back singles and scored on a Wagner double. After an Amato single, Still and Cisco hit consecutive RBI doubles. Marquart drove in the fifth run on a ground out.
Newberry answered with five runs of its own in the bottom of the first. The Panthers scored three on a bases-loaded triple, while the other two runs were the result of errors.
The Panthers built its lead to 8-5, with Keystone not scoring again until the seventh, when Bowles hit an RBI double.
Still went 2 for 3, while Bowles and Buchanan each went 2 for 4.
Keystone plays at Baker County on Tuesday, March 4, at 7 p.m. and at Clay on Wednesday, March 5, at 7 p.m. The Indians host Interlachen on Friday, March 7, at 7 p.m. and then host Middleburg on Tuesday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m.
