Final game takes two days to complete due to near 24-hour rain delay

CEDAR HILL-Another successful Lady Bulldog Softball postseason run came to an end here just shy of a State Sectional berth last week, as Jo Byrns walked off a 3-2 victory over Clay County in the bottom of the seventh inning in the Region 4-A Semifinals.

But the striking conclusion wasn’t the only drama that played out in the high-stakes matchup.

Due to weather, the dramatic tragedy was staged over a span of two days, and there were plenty of theatrics throughout.

The Lady Dawgs got off the bus on Monday, May 12 determined to not let the third time be a charm for the Lady Red Devils, who had eliminated the Clay County girls in the same round the prior two years.

And like she had throughout the postseason, junior softball sensation Baylor Walden provided the spark that lit the fire.

Besides retiring all nine Jo Byrns batters in order through the first three innings, the Lady Bulldog ace pitcher also hit her fifth home run of the postseason, and her ninth on the year, to surge Clay County ahead 2-0 in the top of the third inning.

With one stroke of the bat, Walden drove in sophomore Emma Wix—who had reached on a bunt-single, and ignited her team.

Inspired by Walden’s two-run bomb, sophomore Jenna Thompson opened the fourth inning with a single and advanced to third on back-to-back Jo Byrns wild pitches.

Freshman Analiece Dailey, who already had a double in the game and finished it with a pair of hits, was at the plate with no outs.

Clay County had all the momentum and looked poised to increase their lead, but Mother Nature had other ideas.

The skies opened up, and the game was initially delayed, before eventually being suspended until the next day.

Following a near-24-hour rain delay and a Lady Dawg four-hour round trip home and back, Thompson returned to third base, Dailey dug in at the plate, and the top of the fourth inning resumed on Tuesday night, May 13.

But this time it was the Lady Red Devils who were the aggressors.

The Jo Byrns pitcher quickly struck out the Clay County side and the Lady Dawg scoring opportunity slipped away.

The Lady Red Devils then added a run in the fifth inning to slice the Clay County advantage to 2-1, before Jo Byrns led off the bottom of the sixth with a game-tying solo home run.

During the stretch and throughout the remainder of the game, the Lady Dawgs couldn’t muster an answer, as junior Reagan Cherry was left on base in the fifth inning, Dailey was stranded in the sixth, and freshman Lila Birdwell suffered the same fate in the top of the seventh inning, following her lead-off single.

The Lady Red Devils then got a baserunner on to lead off the bottom of the seventh, she proceeded to advance to third base, and then eventually crossed the plate for the game-winning run.

Walden went two for three with the home run to lead the Lady Dawgs at the plate in their final game of the season, while Dailey matched her hitting performance with two of her own.

Thompson, Wix, and Birdwell made up the remainder of Clay County’s seven hits in the contest.

The loss also wrapped up the career of senior Jaid Walker, who had been a mainstay for her team and helped turn the Lady Dawgs into an annual postseason contender.

Walker leaves the program in good hands, as she was the lone senior, with Walden and Cherry making up the junior class, and the remainder of the team’s contributors being sophomores and freshmen.

The entire starting lineup had right at a .300 batting average for the season, with Walden leading the way at .459.  Cherry finished as the hit (42) and stolen base (29) leader, while Walden (33) and Walker (27) combined for 60 RBIs to lead the team.

The Lady Dawgs’ season ended with an impressive 18-11 record, with four of those losses coming to two-time defending State Champion Gordonsville and one to Jo Byrns, which were the only Class A teams to beat Clay County this season, and they are both playing this week in the State Tournament.