ALBANY — With the winning run on second base in the bottom of the eighth, Gracie Freitag knew she just needed to take a deep breath and swing. She did just that, roping a walk-off double to right, giving Juda-Albany the 3-2 win over Pecatonica on Tuesday, April 11. 

“I thought about slowing down my swing. We were ahead of everything and ahead of ourselves,” Freitag said. “We were popping stuff up and grounding out. I wanted to make sure I had a quality at-bat.”

The Panthers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning with two singles and a triple. Ciarrah Davis beat out a bunt, and Emerson Briggs brought her home with a triple to right center. 

Pecatonica starting pitcher Chloe Schraepfer struck out the next two batters. Avary Briggs then hit a clutch, two-out RBI single to center to plate her younger sister. Schraepfer ended the inning with another strikeout.

In the next three innings, five batters over the minimum made a plate appearance, as each starting pitcher mowed down the offense. Avary Briggs struck out seven batters, while Schraepfer sat down five batters. 

With a stagnant offense, Pecatonica head coach Dan Schraepfer elected to change his game plan. In the top of the fifth, he instructed his batters to bunt.

“If we can lay a bunt down, they are just like us. They have to field it, throw the ball and catch the ball,” Dan Schraepfer said. “A lot of things happen on a bunt. Hats off to them, they are a great small-ball team, and we gave them a taste of their own medicine.”

After an initial groundout, Alyssa Cassidy and Kyra Chrostowski reached on back-to-back bunt singles up the first-base line. Piper Garthwaite then got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Trinity Gruenenfelder and Maddie Hirsch brought two runs across for the Vikings, reaching on full-count walks.

“They were putting down some really nice bunts,” Freitag said. “It put a lot of pressure on us, especially since our pitcher was pitching so good. We had to take it on ourselves to help her out and finish the inning.”

Avary Briggs escaped the bases-loaded jam by striking out Chloe Schraepfer and getting Bri Peterson to pop up to Alana Durtschi at short.

The Vikings looked to mount a comeback in the top of the seveth, as Gruenenfelder drew a two-out walk. Hirsch then singled to center, but Avary Briggs induced a pop up for the final out. Schraepfer faced just four batters in the bottom of the frame, sending the game into extras. 

Avary Briggs had a three-up, three-down eighth, handing it over to her offense. After an initial strikeout, Durtschi singled to right. Avary Briggs reached on a walk, setting up Freitag.

After a first-pitch strike from Schraepfer, Fretiag roped a walk-off double to right that was just inches from Cassidy’s glove.

“I love the effort we got from the girls tonight. We always talk about the next play and keeping your head up when you’re down. They started to do that — they’re believing in themselves. That last hit, we were just two inches away from catching it.”

Freitag finished 2-for-4 at the plate with the game-winning RBI. Emerson Briggs also had a multiple-hit game with a triple. The Briggs sisters combined for eight innings. Avary collected the win, allowing to earned runs on four hits. She struck out 12. In 1 2/3 innings pitched, Emerson struck out four batters without giving up a hit.

At leadoff, Gruenenfelder went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two walks. Hirsch also recorded a hit and RBI with one walk. Schraepfer suffered the loss, giving up three runs on eight hits. She struck out nine.