HAMPSHIRE – Auburn kept scoring, and kept coming back. Finally, the Knights ended things with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh for a 5-4 win in a Class 4A Hampshire Regional semifinal on Wednesday. “I think it shows we can still fight no matter what,” said DeKalb starting pitcher and cleanup hitter Ayla Baty Gould, who had three hits and three RBIs in the win.
“We weren’t ready for our season to be done and we wanted to fight to get it. It just ended up not going our way.” Lily Parr started things for the Knights (17-13) with a solo home run in the bottom of the first.
But the Barbs (4-21) took a 3-1 after the third. Naz Dean started the rally with a single, Hazel Montavon reached on an error and Emma Hart doubled to score Dean. Baty-Gould came up with a key two-out single to put the Barbs ahead for the first time.
Baty-Gould also pitched a complete game for the Barbs, allowing four earned runs. Auburn scored one run in each of the last four innings en route to the win. “She works really hard and that’s not her natural position,” DeKalb coach Haley Albamonte said.
“It’s not her preferred position but she’s such a strong athlete and competes in every situation. So I’m proud of her for that.” The Barbs were down 4-3 in the top of the seventh, but Baty-Gould came up with a single to tie things up, scoring Montavon.
Then Mylee Baker hit a bases-loaded, no-out single to score Eva Ostergard and win the game. Sydney Myles recorded a pair of .
