TAUNTON— Since schedules were announced, the showdown between four-time defending Division 1 champion Taunton (3-0, 2-0 Hockomock League) and defending Division 3 champion Dighton-Rehoboth (1-1) garnered some serious hype.
On Friday night, under the lights of the Taunton Girls Softball League Complex, the clash of champions lived up to it and then some.
Down a run to the Falcons with one out after a strong outing from sophomore pitcher Edy Latour (6⅓ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 K), sophomore catcher Aniyah Bailey stepped up to the plate for the Tigers and did what she does best: coming up clutch with a solo shot deep over the center field fence to tie the game.
Senior shortstop Brooke Aldrich, who's also established a reputation for coming in clutch, followed that up with a triple to right field, before junior first baseman Gracie Oliveira drove her home on a walk-off single for the 2-1 win.
For Taunton coach Michelle Raposo, it was the perfect sequence that she's come to expect from the heart of the order.
"(When they're going up to bat) they're not thinking 'I need to get a hit,'" Raposo said. "It's 'I want to get a hit. I need to get a hit so we can keep on playing.' They don't want the score to not be in our favor at the end of the game, so they just go up, pass the bat, hit the ball and hope that in the end the score is in our favor."
For Bailey, she knew she had to get that ball rolling, and was more than happy to oblige.
"I tried to stay calm and I think the hit really brought my team up," Bailey said. "It's great to carry the bats and then pass the power."
The game was a pure pitcher's duel, as Latour and Taunton senior Cate Larson (7.0 IP, 6 H, R, 12 K) kept two of the most potent offenses in the state quiet throughout much of the evening.
