Lady Hawks start tournament round with upset victory
To say the Hiland senior first baseman has caught fire recently is like saying the Mike Trout is a pretty good hitter.
Yoder torched Shenandoah pitching for another three-run home run early, and the Lady Hawks made it stand up in their 7-6 victory which advanced them into a Sectional showdown with Inter-Valley Conference foe Tuscarawas Central Catholic.
Yoder hit her second three-run homer in three games, powering the Hiland Hawks to a 7-6 sectional win. Yoder had previously hit a home run in the Lady Hawks' 10-9 10-inning loss last week to Newcomerstown, as she helped Hiland overcome a 8-2 deficit to send the game to extra innings. She added a huge two run triple in the follow-up game with the Trojans, sending the game into extra innings, where Hiland eventually won 9-8.
"She's been swinging a pretty nice bat recently," said Hiland coach Erica Glasener of Yoder. "It came at a great time too, since both Tiara Yoder and Kelsey Mast have been out due to illness recently."
The hot bat coincides with a nice run at the end of the year, a stretch of games in which Hiland has played very well. That is not lost on their head coach.
"This stretch of game late in the season has been good for us, because we have been playing a lot better," said Glasener. "For us this year, it was all about when we peaked, and we are peaking at the right time. I think that even though our record is 8-14, we are a team which can't be overlooked. We are gaining confidence, and we have found that we can go out and win close games."
This was one actually not that close for a while, as the Lady Hawks rushed out to a 7-2 lead thanks in large part to the scorching hot bat of Yoder.
However Shenadoah (11-5), started to claw back into the game against Hiland starter Maryssa Mast, and clawed back into the game. With one on in the last inning and sporting a 7-5 lead, Mast gave way to Allison Aleshire, who came in and got the final two outs, allowing the meaningless un to cross for the 7-6 win.
"It was Maryssa's third time through their order, and they were starting to time her up late," said Glasener. "But event here final run reached by an error. When you see someone long enough in a game you can start to time them up better. I though Ali did a nice job of coming in and finishing."
It was a solid team effort which advanced Hiland to play TCC in the Sectional finals, where the Lady Hawks hope to continue their current good play.