The South softball team saved its best for last.
Trailing by three runs entering the bottom of the seventh, the Rebels erupted for five runs and stunned visiting Chardon softball, 8-7, on Thursday in a dramatic Western Reserve Conference showdown capped by Brynley Schneider‘s walk-off home run to left.
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“That was a great win,” said South head coach Rusty Bliss. “Halle pitched a great game. She went out and did her thing. Jenna Heil again called great pitches behind the plate, and the girls hit the ball. Our defense was rock solid.”
The victory lifted South to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in league play, while Chardon fell to 11-4, 3-3.
Chardon looked sharp early.
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The Hilltoppers broke through in the second inning when McKenna Banville singled and eventually scored on an error. Caitlin Seamon followed with a single, and Madison Kilpeck drove in another run as Chardon grabbed a 2-0 lead while loading the bases before Halle Zupancic worked out of further damage.
In the third, Sierra Taylor and Gwen Boyle helped set the table before Alexa Anderson delivered an RBI single. Boyle later scored on Seamon’s sacrifice bunt to stretch the lead to 4-0.
South answered in the bottom half — and did it as a family.
Casey Heil led off with a double, Jenna Heil reached on an error, and Molly Heil delivered an RBI single to get the Rebels on the board. Moments later, Jenna Heil stole home, capping a sequence that featured all three sisters manufacturing runs and cutting the deficit to 4-2.
The Rebels kept chipping away.
Makayla Schneider ignited the fifth with a single, and after moving into scoring position, she stole home to pull South within one at 4-3.
But Chardon answered again in the sixth.
Seamon tripled to open the inning and scored on Kilpeck’s RBI single. Later, another extra-base hit set up Emma Anderson‘s RBI double, pushing the Hilltoppers’ lead to 7-3 and putting South on the brink.
Only then did Bliss put into words what his team was up against.
“Chardon, being the machine that they are, came out hitting the ball, and we knew they’d do that,” Bliss said. “They put some good hits on us.”
Then came the seventh.
“All I could think of was the Rocky speech,” Bliss said. “You’ve got to dig down deep in your heart and deep in your soul and believe in yourselves and go out and get this game. And, they did.”
Makayla Schneider started the rally with a single, and Zupancic followed with a double to put two in scoring position. Mariya Reed delivered a clutch double to right, cutting the deficit to 7-5.
“Mariya Reed drove in a couple of runs and then Ava Proctor, who is one of our feisty freshmen who has been struggling, she was 0-for-3 at the time, ropes a double,” Bliss said.
Proctor’s shot to center brought South within one and left the tying run in scoring position with no outs. After a strikeout, Brynley Schneider stepped in.
On the second pitch she saw, Schneider launched a towering drive to left that cleared the fence, completing the comeback and sending the Rebels pouring out of the dugout.
There was a bit of fate behind the moment.
With center fielder Paige Jansen sidelined after tweaking her knee in Wednesday’s matchup at Chardon, South was forced to adjust.
“She tweaked her knee a little bit in the game at Chardon, so we didn’t have the catalyst to our small ball game or our centerfielder,” Bliss said. “We had Makayla Schneider in center, and her range is as good as anybody out there. She held down the fort. Our defense was on, and Halle did her thing.”
And the hero, Brynley Schneider?
“She was going to be my backup to my backup, just in case my other pitcher had to come in,” Bliss said. “It was fate.”
Zupancic went the distance in the circle, allowing 13 hits and seven runs (five earned) while striking out two.
At the plate, Makayla Schneider led South with three hits and two runs, while Brynley Schneider drove in two — including the game-winner. Reed and Proctor each delivered key doubles in the seventh-inning rally.
For Chardon, Seamon went 3-for-3 with a triple, while Kilpeck drove in two runs, and Emma Anderson added an RBI double in the sixth.
Bliss believes the win can be a turning point.
“After we lost to Chardon the other night, I told them… let’s make this the turning point of this part of the season,” Bliss said. “They’re resilient. They’re young and they’re fired up.”
Chardon hosts Olmsted Falls on Friday while South travels to Perry on Saturday.
Top Players
- Makayla Schneider (South): 3-4, 2R
- Brynley Schneider (South): 2-4, 1R, 2RBI, HR
- Mariya Reed (South): 1-2, 1R, 2RBI, 2BB, 2B
- Ava Proctor (South): 1-4, 1R, 1RBI, 2B
- Caitlon Seamon (Chardon): 3-3, 1R, 1RBI, 3B
- Madison Kilpeck (Chardon): 2-4, 1R, 2RBI
