With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lady Badgers were trailing by one run when Madison Magilke stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded last Thursday.
Magilke got behind in the count 1-2, but then she went up and connected with a rise ball that she drove over the fence in left center field for a grand slam. That gave Lampasas a 10-7 win over the Burnet Lady Bulldogs.
With the win, the Lady Badgers picked up their third district victory, which placed them in a tie with the Jarrell Lady Cougars for the final playoff spot. That means Lampasas will have to compete in a play-in game tonight at Legacy Ranch High School at 6:30 p.m.
In the game last Thursday night, the Lady Badgers found themselves down 6-0 after the top of the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the inning, the Lady Badgers scored four runs to get back into the game. Then they would score two more in the bottom of the sixth on a home run to center field by Kamryn Kothmann after giving up a run in the top of the inning to set up the dramatic finish.
Brooklyn Farmer led Lampasas with three hits in four at-bats, and she pitched the complete game.
Kothmann, Sagen Plouff and Brady Burton each collected multiple hits for Lampasas.
After the game, Magilke spoke on her final at-bat and what she saw when she connected on that home run.
“I was looking for my pitch, and I knew I saw it down, and I knew it was my pitch,” Magilke said.
The Lady Badgers didn’t give up in this game or on this season -- even when things were not going their way. They have continued to fight, and the junior said that is the makeup of this team.
“We all come together well, and everybody put all of their effort into every single play of that game,” Magilke said.
Head coach Blakeli Brookreson could not have been more proud of her team after they found a way to win last week.
“This season’s been pretty tough, I won’t lie,” Brookreson said. “But for them to come back and fight as hard as they did, … they came back and they came back strong.
That is probably the best team effort that I’ve seen from this group.”
The coach said as she watched the Magilke home run, she knew the hitter was due to come up big for the Lady Badgers.
“[The Burnet pitcher] was in her head a little bit, but she came back and she drove a grand slam,” Brookreson said. “It was awesome.”
That never-give-up spirit from the Lady Badgers earned them at least one more game. They will now compete against Jarrell for the third time this season with a spot in the playoffs up for grabs.
The Lady Badgers lost their first game to Jarrell at home 14-13, and then they went on the road to beat the Lady Cougars 12-10 the second time around.
Regardless of what has happened this season, the Lady Badgers can put that behind them and focus on this one game to keep their season alive.
“This season’s been pretty tough, and they’re a great group of kids,” Brookreson said. “I love this group truly, so they deserve it. They worked hard. They work hard every day in practice, and they obviously don’t quit.”