McKenna Parmelee may have had her grand slam home run taken away from her. But absolutely nothing was going to take away the big, bright smile that was on her face.
And nothing was going to take away the Sherwood High School softball team’s dramatic victory.
The Bowmen, with Parmelee's apparent grand slam home run in the bottom of the fifth inning turned into a tie-breaking RBI single, battled their way to a 3-1 win over West Salem in an intense Class 6A second round state playoff contest played Wednesday at Sherwood High School.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Parmelee, Sherwood’s senior catcher. “I knew that we would pull through and have a great game. It was just great to get the win.”
“This means everything. It’s big,” Sherwood senior pitcher Faith McHill said. “We made it to the semis last year, and we’re hoping to make a big run again.”
“We needed this win, and we’re ready to go on to the next game,” said Sherwood sophomore Maisy Schindler, who hit a solo home run for the game’s first run. “It was intense, but we all know how to keep calm when there are the bases loaded, or a big situation. We all knew what we needed to do, and we did it.”
With the win, seventh-seeded Sherwood improved to 22-7 on the season. The Bowmen also advance to to the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs, where they’ll face defending Class 6A state champion Sheldon in a game to be played Friday at Sheldon High School in Eugene.
“I think we’re ready for it,” McHill said of the upcoming clash with the second-seeded Irish. “We’ve got a good game plan, and we’re ready to attack.”
“I think we’re ready. It’s upset time,” Schindler said with a smile. “We’re going to go out there, do our best, and hopefully get that ‘dub.’”
West Salem, the Central Valley Conference champion, and the No. 10 seed, finished its season with a final overall record of 22-7.
The Titans, who fell 2-1 to Sherwood early in the season, like the Bowmen, looked to be fired up for Wednesday’s rematch. McHill and West Salem junior Braeli Martin locked up in a pitchers’ duel early on, with the game still scoreless going into the bottom of the third inning.
But Schindler changed that.
The sophomore, stepping to the plate with one out in the bottom of the third, smacked a high shot over the fence in left field for a solo home run, giving the Bowmen a 1-0 lead.
“It felt good,” Schindler said. “We needed it. It worked out well.”
West Salem came storming back in the top of the fourth inning. Titans sophomore Kali Parks led off the frame with a triple to right-center field. She scored on a single by sophomore Aubrey Peil, tying the game at 1-1. Junior Mya Ward followed with a double to right field, putting runners on second and third with no outs.
But McHill wasn’t bothered by the daunting situation – in fact, she was fired up by it.
“I was thinking, ‘attack. Don’t give up. Attack. Attack,’” she said. “I just needed to let our defense work.”
McHill got a strikeout for the first out of the inning. The next batter hit a grounder to Sherwood sophomore third baseman Elaina Harris, who made a rifle throw to Parmelee, who tagged out Peil trying to score on the play, for the second out. McHill then got an inning-ending strikeout to get out of the jam.
“I trust our defense, but having those two runners on was pretty stressful,” McHill said. “I needed to do what I could to get the outs, and let my defense work if I need it.”
Things got even more intense – and more crazy – in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Sherwood freshman Parker Ayers led off the frame with a line-drive single to center field. Schindler followed with a double off the fence in right-center field and junior Camryn Knight was safe on a fielder’s choice grounder, loading the bases with no outs.
Martin coaxed the next two Bowmen batters into grounders, with Ayers and Schindler both being forced out at the plate. That brought up Parmelee with the bases loaded, two outs and the game still tied at 1-1.
She was more than up to the pressure-filled task, ripping a line drive over the fence in center field.
“I was just thinking that I had to put the ball in play. Bases loaded, two outs, and team needed runs, so I just tried to keep it simple and get a base hit,” Parmelee said. “It felt great off the bat, line drive over the fence in center – just kept it simple.”
But, while the Bowmen were celebrating what looked to be a grand slam home run, it was ruled that one of the Sherwood base runners purposely took off her helmet before reaching home plate, and was ruled out. Knight touched the plate before the infraction occurred, so her run counted, giving Sherwood a 2-1 lead.
“That was amazing,” McHill said of Parmelee’s blast over the fence. “That was everything we needed, and it really sucks that it got taken away.”
“We needed that,” Schindler said. “It was sad that it was taken away, but it left us with some good energy, and some intense feelings. It helped us get the win.”
“I was a little disappointed, but we got the run we needed to put us ahead. I knew, from there, our defense was there for us, and we’d be able to score more runs,” Parmelee said. “The energy we got from that whole situation fueled our team, both our defense and our offense.”
It sure seemed to.
Sherwood added another run in the bottom of the sixth when Knight singled in sophomore Jordan Henderson with a slap single to left field, making the score 3-1. Meanwhile, Bowmen junior pitcher Destiny Cornwell, working in relief, shut down the Titans over the final two frames, striking out Titan senior Celina Ball for the final out of the game, igniting Sherwood’s victory celebration.
“It was just a relief. We were a little tense at the beginning, but getting those runs, and knowing that Destiny can back me up really well, was good,” McHill said. “Oh, that was intense. I know a couple of us were nervous, just because we were struggling to get the bats going. So, it was nice to see the bats going today.”
“I was pretty excited,” Parmelee said. “We’re ready to go take on Sheldon.”
McHill, pitching the first 4.2 innings for the Bowmen, gave up one run on three hits while striking out seven and walking none. Cornwell allowed one hit while striking out four and walking none over the final 2.1 innings.
For the Sherwood offense, Parmelee, Henderson and Schindler each had a pair of hits, with Schindler having both a home run and a double.
“This was really fun,” Schindler said. “It makes you realize what high school softball is all about, and why we play the sport.”
For West Salem, Parks, Peil, Ward and senior Kaylee Nicholson each had a hit.
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