Rebels snap Green Wave winning streak
Byrnes players celebrate as Maddie Wiant (#14) comes down the third-base line on her fifth-inning home-run trot.
By Roger Lee
Contributing Writer
Duncan – Byrnes rallied to claim a 9-8 victory over Summerville May 28 in Game 2 of the 5A, Division 1 Softball Championship Series.
With the victory, the Rebels (29-4) tied the series to force a third and final game scheduled for 6:30 p.m. May 30 at White Knoll High School. They also snapped an 83-game Green Wave (33-1) winning streak.
“I’m super proud of their fight tonight and how far we’ve come,” said Byrnes coach Brandi Aiken. “We weren’t really focused on the streak. Our goal is always to win the last game and we wouldn’t have the opportunity to do that if we didn’t win this one. Now it comes down to that last game.”
Summerville, which is the two-time defending state champion and won Game 1 of the series 3-0, has similar thoughts.
“I have a lot of respect for Byrnes,” said Summerville coach Heather Tucker. “We knew they were going to come out and give us a good game on their field. There are some things I could have maybe done differently as a coach to help my team be in a better position, but I feel good about Friday. That one inning, the game just got away from us a little and that’s on me, but our kids have a lot of fight in them. Our goal is still to win the state championship.”
Summerville took a 5-0 lead in the first turn at bat and led 6-2 entering the bottom of the fifth inning. However, Byrnes scored six runs off five hits, a walk and an error in the bottom of the frame to take an 8-6 lead.
Kaylee Hannon blasted a three-run homer to left-center field that drove in Kara Davis and Ellanie Yarrell. Memorie Melton followed with a double and Kara Davis was hit by a pitch. Maddie Wiant then hit her own three-run homer to right field to drive them in and give the Rebels the lead.
Summerville didn’t fret and tied the game in the top of the sixth.
Daphne Frady got things started with a double. Katie Guilliam then drove a hit into the right-field fence, but had to settle for a single. Pitcher Ansley Bennett walked to load the bases. Freshman Maeven Moreno drove in two runs for the tie, but then Byrnes made a routine play to end the turn at bat.
The score held until the bottom of the final inning. With a walk by Hannon, hit from Haven Holmes and an intentional walk to Maddie Wiant, the Rebels loaded the bases. Summerville got a second out on a play at the plate, which brought seventh-grader Garrison Aiken to the plate.
Aiken, the coach’s daughter, battled one of the state’s top pitchers to eventually receive her fourth ball and push pinch runner Maddie Taylor in for the game-winning run.
“We made a switch tonight,” coach Aiken said. “I don’t think (Garrison) has had more than 12 at bats all year so I’m super proud of her. One of the reasons is she has taken hard hacks but another is just her small strike zone. She did her job. She hacked at the pitches she should have and didn’t swing at the ones that were out of the zone. We don’t care how we get it as long as we have one more run than the other guy.”
In the top of the first, Summerville loaded the bases when Guilliam and Melanie Edwards both had a hit and Moreno reached on a fielder’s choice. Then catcher Abby Driscoll drove in two runs with a single and outfielder Jayden Bennett hit a three-run homer for the 5-0 Green Wave lead.
Byrnes pushed two runs across in the bottom of the frame. Davis had a bunt single and then scored on a home run by Addy Waters.
In the top of the fourth, Guilliam hit a solo homerun to give Summerville a 6-2 lead.
“I thought we did a much better job at the plate tonight and in getting runs across,” coach Aiken said. “We definitely didn’t want to lose at home. We lost to Summerville here in 2023 and that is something we weren’t going to do again. We extended our season and we did not let someone else win a state championship on our field.”
