By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
In the third at-bat of the game Thursday, Savannah's Kiara Schaub hit a single shot home run to center to give her team an early 1-0 advantage.
"That was huge," Schaub said. "I mean, momentum is everything in this game. If you can get that in the first couple of innings and ride that for the rest of the game, you've got such a greater shot at winning."
The Savages (19-7) never trailed and scored three runs over the game's final two innings to get some key insurance and hold off Benton 6-4 in a Class 3 District 8 semifinal at Heritage Park in St. Joseph Thursday.
"That's two really competitive, two really similar teams," Savannah coach B.J. Winn said. "If we played them 10 times, it might go 5-5. This game, goofy stuff happens, you get a little lucky, you put the ball in play and you can scratch out a win. It was a good game."
Benton (19-8) tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third, but Savannah struck back in the top of the fourth. An RBI single by senior Grace Heitman, plus a Benton throwing error, allowed two runs to come across and the Savages led 3-1 by the middle of the fourth.
Benton got a run back in the bottom of the fourth and then tied it up 3-3 in the fifth. The Cardinals had bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth with nobody out.
Savannah made a pitching change in the fifth after Benton led off with a pair of singles. Emma Newton was relieved by freshman Brailynn Fox. After walking in the tying run, Fox struck out two in a row and then got a fly out to end the fifth and keep the tie intact.
Savannah took the lead back for good in the top of the sixth. A two-out, RBI triple by senior Grace Heitman, thought initially to be a home run, bounced off the fence and back into play.
Freshman Addi Koehler followed that up with an RBI single to right and Savannah led 5-3 headed to the bottom of the sixth.
Benton kept battling, as a pair of dropped fly balls to deep left field allowed one run to score, making it 5-4 entering the seventh.
With two outs and runners on first and second, senior Haley Noland hit a crucial RBI single to right to score sophomore Reagan Bauer to give the Savages a 6-4 lead.
Noland finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
"Playing as a team is what we've been doing," Noland said. "If we keep it up, it'll be good. I'm proud of all of us together."
Benton was set down in order in the bottom of the seventh, and Fox earned the save, pitching the last three innings.
"That's a big stage for a freshman to be in," Winn said. "She came in dealing, changing speeds. Her ball was moving and it was a little rocky to start. My blood pressure started going up, but she settled in, struck out the next three and it was off to the races."
Five different Savages scored a run Thursday and seven of them got a hit. Bauer scored a team-high two runs. Heitman had two hits and two RBIs.
Junior Ashlyn Snodgrass went 2-for-3 to lead Benton at the plate. She had a triple and a run scored as well.
Senior Wynter Hurst pitched the full game to round out her varsity career, striking out four batters and walking three.
"Wynter is tough," Winn said. "She is a darn good pitcher. We had some good at-bats. We put it in play, kept on battling and if you put the ball in play, good things happen."
This sets the stage for a Savannah vs. Chillicothe district title game on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Savannah beat Richmond in the first semifinal Thursday 9-3.
The Savages beat the Hornets in Savannah 5-2 on September 15. Savannah is playing in its fourth straight district title game, while Chillicothe is trying to get back to the state championship after finishing as state runners-up in Class 3 last season.
"We'll just stay solid," Schaub said. "We've already beat them once, so we got that, too. We're rolling."
A high-profile district title against two talented MEC rivals. One can't ask for much more than that.
"They're good," Winn said. "We're going to have to play defense, hit our spots pitching and have some good at-bats."
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.