Aaliyah Coursey greatly contributed to what became the winning run for East Carter, but took a bit of a beating in the process.
With her somewhat painful help in the top of the seventh, No. 4 East Carter beat No. 2 Naylor 3-2 on Wednesday at Rains Field at Three Rivers College to win the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament for the second year in a row.
"It is the highlight of the season, especially going back two years in a row," said East Carter senior Brooklyn Loftis, who had a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning of the semifinals.
Tied at two in the top of the seventh, Kennedy Thies was on first base with one out when Coursey stepped up to the plate, worked a 2-2 count and got hit on the triceps by a fastball.
Coursey went to first, gave her arm a rub when she got there, and got ready for the next at-bat.
Leadoff hitter Naomi Crowley popped up to the pitcher and Coursey was caught off the bag. She ran back to first, desperately trying to avoid an inning-ending double play, and the throw bonked her in the head and rolled up the right foul line.
As Naylor chased down the loose ball, Thies raced around the bases and scored the go-ahead run.
"At first I didn't think I would be safe on first, then when it hit my head I was like, 'I gotta go.' But I couldn't," Coursey said. "It was amazing. I thought I helped us win ... I'm really excited right now."
In the next at bat, Coursey also had to dive back to first base to avoid a pick-off attempt before the inning mercifully ended.
East Carter pitcher Makenna Moore then retired the side in the final frame for the second game in a row to secure the championship.
Moore, who shutout Neelyville in the quarterfinal and stranded nine runners to beat top seed Doniphan in the semifinals, pitched another dominant game to narrowly beat the Eagles.
"Makenna did a phenomenal job. She pitched so well against a hard-hitting team," East Carter coach Teresa Kearbey said. "I can't say enough about her. All these girls, these seniors. I can't say enough about them. This is a good group of girls. I think I only screamed at them once."
Moore started the day with three straight strikeouts. She was perfect through 2 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and had a no-hitter through three innings, which Three Rivers commitment Callee Pickrell broke up with a single to start the fourth.
Outside of the fourth, when Naylor scored its two runs, Moore didn't give up a hit. She allowed four hits in all, no walks and a hit batter with seven strikeouts. Naylor also had three runners reach on errors.
But still, the Eagles were inches away from scoring their own go-ahead run in the sixth inning.
Faith Sullivan was hit by a pitch with one out in the sixth, took second on a passed ball and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt.
McKenzie Crofford laid down a bunt as Sullivan took off for home. East Carter catcher Maddyson Holloway, who was involved in numerous plays at the plate throughout the tournament, picked up the bunt and fired to first, beating Crofford by a step to prevent the run.
"Very nerve-wracking, very intense, they were very aggressive on the bases," Holloway said.
East Carter (9-2) scored first in the fourth inning.
Holloway and Moore singled to put two on with nobody out. Bailey Gargac drove in Holloway with a groundout and Thies singled to score Gargac.
Naylor (5-3), which beat East Carter 7-6 earlier in the season, answered in the bottom of the fourth. Pickrell had a leadoff single, breaking up Moore's no-hitter, and then Sullivan singled to drive her in.
Crofford soon hit another single with two outs to score Sullivan, which would be the last hit Moore would give up.
Nobody for Naylor reached base more than once.
"She threw really well today. I thought she threw better today than she threw yesterday (against Doniphan), but she threw really well and that's what it took. If she hadn't, we probably would have won this ball game," Naylor coach Gene Deckard said.
Naylor freshman pitcher Alyssa Urich was up to the Moore's challenge and allowed six hits, one walk and a hit batter. Defensively, she made five outs, including a couple where the looked back the runner on third before throwing to first. Like Moore, Urich didn't allow a hit after the fourth inning. East Carter scored its winning run on a fielder's choice, a hit batter and a throwing error.
"I'm proud of my girls. If somebody would have told us last fall we'd be in the championship game and take it into the seventh inning and it be anybody's game ... we made them earn in it," Deckard said. "For being young and playing that type of ball game in the championship when most of these girls haven't been in that atmosphere, I'm very proud of my girls."