Flynn's walk-off double completes Clyde comeback win

CLYDE — Once Clyde got hot, there was no stopping the Fliers. Clyde's Jayleigh Flynn nailed a double to left field past Seneca East's MacKenna Lucius. The line drive allowed Kember Nelson and Skylynn Glaspy to score. Flynn's double finished Clyde's late comeback as the Fliers squeaked out a 9-8 non-league win against Seneca East on Saturday at Joe Wilson Field. "I thought today we could have given up, especially being down four runs in the seventh," Fliers coach Marc Marshall said. "We kept battling and that's what got us the win." The Fliers (2-1) were behind 8-4 at going into their final at-bats in the seventh inning. Paige Miller came in to pitch for the Tigers (0–1). After a Teaghan Smith walk, the bases were loaded. Molly Guhn grounded the ball out to right field towards Macey Webb. In the time it took to throw the ball back, Amber Dillingham came running through home plate, making it 8-5. The bases were reloaded and Glaspy knew what she needed to do and that was be aggressive with the bat. She hit a pop fly out to center field that allowed Caudill to score, Smith to steal third and Nelson to second base. "Once we got the hits rolling, it became contagious and we got it together just in time," Marshall said. "Seneca East had a couple of mistakes and it helped us get the win." Clyde brought it within one run, 8-7, on an Ariah Farrrar walk with Smith scoring. "We didn't come out and finish," SE coach Steve Coppes said. "We had a couple of mental errors in the bottom of the seventh and it cost us. We have a fairly young team that most haven't had varsity experience." The first half of the game was reminiscent of the Fremont Ross game where the Fliers battled back from 7-1 to win the game against the Little Giants 11-9. SE came out aggressive with the bat hitting in the first inning. Jordyn Enders singled to third base that brought home Madi Smith. Lillian Burkholder kept the momentum going for the Tigers as she nailed a line drive to Flynn out in center field. It gave Enders and Hanna Feathergill just enough time to score, making it 3-0. "We told them to come out aggressive and play," said Coppes about the lead. "We told them for defense to come out aggressive as well. Try to make plays and set ourselves up in a good position, which Kynlee (Miller) did. We just couldn't close out." Clyde got two runs in the first inning when Mya Stiefel tripled to the right field and Farrar, who walked earlier, was able to get a run. Stiefel later scored for the Fliers. The Tigers got three more runs in the second inning, one in the third, and one in the sixth, making it 8-2. Clyde started digging out from there. Flynn hit a double and got two RBI when Farrar and Teaghan Smith scored, putting the pressure on the SE defense. That brought Clyde within 8-4. "Anytime you can put the ball into play consistently, you are giving yourself a chance and the other team has to field the ball," Marshall said. "I think it was a cumulative effect." Even though Clyde is without their ace pitcher Taitum Jeffrey this season due to injury, it has given other players to step up, such as Ashley Dillingham, who came on in relief in the fourth inning. "I feel terrible for her because she puts so much time into it," said Marshall of Jeffrey, a junior. "The season still goes on and we have to give other kids a chance so we can give ourselves chances to win. "All we have asked our pitchers to do is throw strikes, keep the walks to a minimum and give ourselves a chance to get some outs and that's exactly what she did." Kynlee Miller pitched six innings for Seneca East, giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out two. Dillingham was the winning pitcher, giving up three hits on two runs with two strikeouts in four innings. "We are still learning," Marshall said. "We have quite a few kids that are young and half our team are new players. Our returners' roles have increased and we are still learning. "We are still finding what type of team we want to be." Seneca East 303 101 0 — 8 8 2 Clyde 200 002 5 — 9 10 2 WP: Dillingham. LP: K. Miller. 2B: (SE) Webb, P. Miller; (C) Flynn. 3B: (SE) Dawson; (C) Stiefel