SOUTH SHORE — For a pitcher who hasn’t stepped in the circle for the entire postseason, Alexis Maynard sure looked like a tournament veteran.

Maynard pitched a complete game and struck out seven to lead Russell-Flatwoods over Lewis County 6-5 to win the 11-12-year-old District 6 softball championship on Tuesday at Stan Spence Fields.

But it wasn’t Maynard who was scheduled to pitch on Tuesday. In fact, Maynard hasn’t pitched since the regular season, with Sara Hieneman and Camryn Ratliff getting most of the duties in the circle during the postseason.

Coach Rod Hieneman, though, decided to make a switch as his team was warming up.

“Every single practice, every pre-game, each girl gets the same amount of throws and we coach them all the same so they’re ready to come in,” Hieneman said. “I liked what I saw in warmups today, and coach (Kendra) Holmes allowed me to make that decision today and it worked out for us.”

Early in the game, it looked like Maynard would struggle, as Lewis County opened the bottom of the first with two quick runs, all coming with zero hits.

Russell-Flatwoods committed three throwing errors in the inning and faced more damage as Lewis County had the bases loaded.

But the bases remained loaded, as Maynard worked herself out of a jam. And what might have looked promising for Lewis County only added fire to the Russell-Flatwoods team.

“Russell has a tradition of not giving up,” Holmes said. “These girls were down the other night and came back and won, so high regards for thesegirls on how they came back early there.”

Russell-Flatwoods answered quickly in the top of the second with three runs, including a run-scoring triple by Annalee Miller who was then chased home by Madison Darnell with a single.

Lewis County, though, tied the game at 4-4 with two runs in the bottom of the third. The inning started off with a Haylee Stamm single, followed by an RBI double by Jalyssa Cortez.

Then mistakes kicked in again with two passed balls from Russell-Flatwoods catcher Jaclyn Holmes, the second of which scored Cortez.

“We’re going to work on that next week; staying down on the ball and throwing the ball,” Hieneman said through a grin. “But Lewis County is a class act. Their coaches had them well prepared and they’re a great team and they did a great job.”

Holmes made up for the passed ball by coming up with some heroics in the fifth.

But first, it was Smith who ripped a ball through the middle of the infield, which scored two runs and proved to be the game-winning hit in the fourth.

With no outs and a speedy runner on second in the bottom of the fifth, Holmes was able to throw out a runner attempting to steal third and keep Lewis County from breaking out with a big inning.

“That was a key play for us,” coach Holmes said of the throw to third. “You have to give her the props for that kind of a throw.”

Lewis County got one run in the bottom of the fifth and held Russell-Flatwoods in check in the top of the sixth which set up a 6-5 game heading into the last half-inning.

Maynard desperately wanted to finish the game, and it took a little coercing of the coaches.

“I went up to her before she went out and asked if she wants this,” Hieneman said. “She looked at me and said, ‘Yes I want this.’ And she had determination in her eyes and we could not let her miss that opportunity.”

The bottom of the sixth started off rocky with a lead-off walk. Then, in a stroke of luck, a hard-hit ground ball to second turned into a double play.

In the final at-bat, the hardest hit ball of the game was lined to third base and Sara Hieneman stuck her glove up. She looked into it with shock and excitement as it was the capper for a Russell-Flatwoods’ win.

Russell-Flatwoods advances to the state tournament with their first game scheduled for Saturday at noon in Winchester.

“We’re tickled to death to go and represent Russell schools and Russell-Flatwoods Little League,” Holmes said. “And we plan on having a good showing while were there.”



R-FLATWOODS    031    200    —    6    7    7

LEWIS CO.    202    010    —    5    6    7

Maynard and Holmes. Cortez and Stamm. W — Maynard. L — Cortez. 2B — Cortez (LC). 3B — Miller (RF).  

KYLE HOBSTETTER can be reached at khobstetter@dailyindependent.com.