Brooklyn Loftis made the most of her biggest opportunity.
With the score tied in the top of the eighth inning, the East Carter center fielder hit a two-run home run to lift the No. 4 Redbirds to a 4-2 win over top seed Doniphan in the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament semifinals on Tuesday at Rains Field at Three Rivers College.
East Carter pitcher Makenna Moore, who escaped jam after jam, then retired the side for the first time all game.
The Redbirds will play No. 2 Naylor in the championship game at 5:30 p.m. today at Rains Field.
"We hit when we needed to. We let our bats slag a little bit in the middle of the game and when it came down to needing them, Brooklyn came through for us," East Carter coach Teresa Kearbey said. "(Doniphan is) a very good team and it just makes you want to explode when you beat them."
The go-ahead home run almost wasn't to be.
East Carter (7-2) took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on Bailey Gargac's two-run double that scored Maddyson Holloway and Audrey Carter.
It was still 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning with runners on second and third and nobody out when Kaylee Davis hit a slow roller that found its way through the infield, scoring Lexi Day easily. Paige Eddington slid into third as the throw sailed high and hit the Doniphan dugout.
Eddington went for home and the third baseman, Carter, went for the ball. The two bumped and Carter threw home in time for the tag, but Eddington was ruled safe because of interference, tying the game.
With a runner on third base and one out, Hannah Ponder flew out to center field. The runner on third, representing the game winning run, didn't tag up and East Carter threw to third for the out, sending the game into extra innings.
"We just didn't come to play. We didn't pay attention, we didn't pick up signs, we didn't play the style of ball that we've played all spring that has made us successful. When they made mistakes we just didn't capitalize on it," Doniphan coach Brad Eddington said.
Doniphan (9-2) stranded nine runners through six scoreless innings. It had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth inning and had a runner in scoring position with fewer than two outs in five of those six innings, but each time Moore managed to avoid the big hit.
Moore finished with five hits, four walks and a hit batter against with 13 strikeouts.
"She was calm, she was ready to do what it took and she did it. She played one of the best games I've ever seen her play today and yesterday," Kearbey said.
Her counterpart, Davis, didn't give up two hits to anybody and allowed seven hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
"I thought Kaylee pitched a good game. There were times where the bottom part of the lineup, she missed a few pitches and they capitalized on it. But I thought overall she pitched pretty well," Eddington said.
Three times Day worked her way into scoring position with fewer than two outs and was stranded.
In the first inning, Day singled and quickly took second and third on passed balls, but then Moore got a pair of strikeouts to keep her there. In the third, Day drew a one-out walk. She took a big lead off first base and East Carter tried for the pick-off, but on the throw Day went for second and slid in well ahead of the throw, which went into center field. Day hopped up and easily made it to third.
She nearly went for home on a passed ball, but stopped halfway and retreated. With one out, Moore got a strikeout and an infield fly to keep her shutout intact.
Kelsey Meyers tripled to deep center to lead off the fifth inning, giving Doniphan another runner on third with less than two outs.
Day singled to left and Meyers ran for home.
Naomi Crowley caught the ball on the first bounce and fired a perfect strike to home as Holloway made the tag.
After that, Day stole third and East Carter opted to intentionally walk Eddington, who stole second without a throw. Moore then loaded the bases on four straight balls.
With two outs, a full count, the runners moving and the go-ahead run on first, Madison Eddington hit a long fly ball down the right-foul line that landed inches foul. Two runs crossed home before the Donettes realized they had to go back.
On the reset, Madison Eddington spun another foul off her bat, this one short, low and near the East Carter dugout. Gargac, at first base, tracked it down and made a lunging catch to escape one more jam.
"I tell them all the time, it is a game of mistakes and whoever makes the least amount of mistakes is going to come out victorious and we made the most mistakes today," Eddington said.
The Donettes finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh, but missed one last opportunity and the walk-off run it represented.