Chamberlain High's Late Shot Wins District Softball

As Chamberlain High School junior Ellen Scott rounded the bag at third, she could see her jubilant teammates crowded around home base, waiting for her to touch the plate for them to celebrate together the Lady Chiefs 2011 5A District 9 championship.

“I was just trying to sprint as fast as I could to get to them.”

In the bottom of the seventh, with the district championship hanging in the balance, the Lady Chiefs were locked up with Sickles High in a pitcher’s duel, tied at one-a-piece.

Scott ended the game in walk-off fashion, hitting a line drive to deep center-field, clearing the fence, and hitting the 2003 State Champions sign that hangs just below the scoreboard.

“At 3-1, I was ahead in the count. So I just looked for a certain pitch, and she gave it to me”, said Scott, who knew almost immediately that it was a home run.

Trying to encapsulate the feeling on the field afterwards, she was almost at a loss for words.

“It’s … it’s just really … it’s mind-blowing.”

With the win the team can shake off residual feelings from last year’s disappointment that happened a year ago to the day when the Gaither Lady Cowboys upset the Chiefs for the district title.

For coach Bobby Diaz it was a particularly important win. As the team gathered on the infield to pose with the trophy he joked that his players better put him in front, he isn’t sure how many more of these he would have.

“I’m 63. And in 2-1 games, I don’t know how long I can take it,” he said with a rare laugh.

But then almost immediately Coach Diaz was back to business.

“We’re not a great team,” he said, never one to vaunt his team, which finished the season undefeated in league play. “We have pretty good pitching, pretty good defense, and we just battle away.”

It was the Lady Chiefs pitching, with their batters struggling to figure out Sickles stellar pitching, that kept them in the game so late.

Starting pitcher junior Amber Fulwood went 4 1/3 innings for Chamberlain, allowing only one run.

“My job is to pitch strikes, hit my spots, and give my defense ground balls. And they can handle the outs,” Fulwood said.

Coming in relief in the fifth was sophomore Rachel Dwyer, who had trouble finding the strike zone early.

 After walking her first batter and allowing a single that took an awkward bounce over a glove at third base, Dwyer fell behind 3-0 in the count.

But on the rubber she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and proceeded to throw two strikes. She got an out on an infield fly, and picked up a strike-out to get out of trouble and end the inning.

 "I just tried to collect myself and not let it effect me," said Dwyer. "We don't want a chain of bad things. They happen, but you want to close it down there."

“If they don’t cross home plate, it doesn’t matter,” said Coach Diaz.

On Tuesday, Chamberlain will look to advance a step closer to the 5A championship when the Lady Chiefs, with a perfect 10-0 record on their home field, will host a yet to be determined opponent.