NEW PALESTINE — The New Palestine Dragons hadn’t trailed by six runs in almost two full seasons.
It had been 54 games, to be exact. The last time the Dragons found themselves down a half dozen runs was a regional loss against Lebanon, 7-1, on May 31, 2016.
A six-run deficit in the second inning is what New Palestine found itself staring at Monday at home — where the Dragons hadn’t lost since April 30, 2015, against Shelbyville — against visiting Class 4A Greenwood.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryThe Dragons clawed back to get within striking distance. Then they struck. After getting the deficit to four at 8-4 and down to their last three outs, New Palestine’s offense came alive, plating five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and winning on a walk-off home run from Tatum Biddle, 9-8.
“We battled,” New Palestine coach Ed Marcum said. “We were coming up to the top of the order there, and Jaylin (Calvert) led us off and she crushed it.”
Calvert started the bottom of the seventh with a single ripped into right field. Ashley Prange followed with a walk, bringing Emily O’Connor up with her team down four.
“I told Ashley that walk is as good as a home run there — we just have to keep things moving,” Marcum said. “I told Emily how much I believed in her and that she had to believe in herself, take the first good pitch you see and give it a ride. And that’s exactly what she did.”
O’Connor blasted a three-run home run, drawing New Palestine within one and setting up the walk-off win.
Michaela Jones singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice by freshman Kinsey Mitchell, bringing Biddle to the plate with the tying run in scoring position.
“I wasn’t really thinking home run because Mic was on second,” Biddle said. “Right-side, situational hitting, because we work on it every day in practice. The pitch was outside, and I like it there. A little slower, right at the top of the strike zone.”
Biddle’s previous at-bat hit the top of the fence and resulted in a double.
This one? Not so much.
“That one there was a no-doubter,” Marcum said. “I just wanted to make sure they touched all the bases and touched home plate.”
Earlier in the game, the Dragons (21-1) had broken the state record for home runs in a season with a Michaela Jones solo homer in the second inning. Macy Miller homered in the fifth and the two final-inning long balls brought the new record to 61 and counting.
Outside of the home runs it was a struggle for New Palestine offensively. Greenwood pitcher Karlee Denham didn’t make things easy, holding the Dragons to three hits in the first five innings.
The Dragons had found themselves in trouble in the second inning, as the Woodmen (7-18) loaded the bases with no outs off a leadoff double from Alexis Rees and back-to-back walks to Haley Sylvester and Kiley Hankenhoff.
A single back up the middle by Rachel Derf put the Woodmen up early. A groundout to second base scored another run and prompted a pitching change, as the Dragons brought in Kaylea Bullock with one out in the second to replace starter Mackenzie Jones.
Another walk loaded the bases again and brought up Allison Hayes, whose grand slam gave the visitors a 6-0 lead. After another single, Bullock got Olivia Daugherty to line into a double play, ending the top half of the second.
Bullock settled in from there, striking out three of the next five batters she faced and keeping the Woodmen from adding to their lead, allowing the Dragons to start clawing back.
“Obviously we didn’t come with our best stuff early,” Marcum said. “We got down. We looked like we were down emotionally. We kind of looked defeated. Six runs for us is usually nothing, but we just kind of struggled. We had a couple of home runs but we couldn’t really string anything together.”
New Palestine had nine hits for the game, with Biddle leading the way with a single, double and the two-run home run. Emily O’Connor led the offense with three RBIs.
It wasn’t the way Marcum drew up the win, and he said he hopes his team can learn from the big comeback win. The Dragons haven’t faced much adversity this season, with their sole loss coming in a one-run slugfest with Class 4A No. 1 Center Grove.
They certainly haven’t been in a position where they were down by as much as they were against the Woodmen. But the bats came alive when they needed to, and the Dragons quest to defend their state title continues to roll on.
“This shows our team has a lot of fight in us and we never give up,” Biddle said. “No matter how well someone plays, we always pick each other up and we know our next teammate will pick you up with the next at-bat.”