Gamblin Lumber Company overcame an early 7-0 deficit to force a run-rule and defeat Endeavor Home Care for the Parks Dept. Junior League Tournament championship 21-11.
Endeavor's 7-0 lead in the top of the first inning came off of doubles from Pamela Richards and Mia Hicks and a triple from Tylar Brookreson.
"When they scored seven after the first half (inning) we were pretty downtrodden," said coach Eric Schalk.
"I did get nervous, I'm not gonna lie," added coach Jeremy Booker.
Gamblin wasn't fazed, however, and answered with 10 runs of its own to close out the inning.
After Endeavor failed to score a run, Gamblin added to its lead with four runs in the second inning. A barrage of singles left the score 14-7.
Gamblin preceded to push the lead to 15-7 through the third, capitalizing on Endeavor's lack of offense.
Despite a triple from Brookreson, Endeavor was unable to capitalize in the fourth inning. Michaely Krizman and Raylynn Fandrick were able to reach home and give Gamblin a dominant 17-7 lead.
Endeavor wouldn't fold easily, however. Starting off with a Zoe Cooper single, the team clawed back into the game. Subsequently, the team capitalized off of Gamblin blunders, scoring Cooper, Richards, Jalicia Mallett and Bailey King, narrowing the gap 17-11.
Unfortunately for Endeavor, their pitching wasn't enough to round out the comeback. Consecutive walks pushed home Lauryn Wilkerson, Micha Burton, Kaitlyn Booker and Laine Schalk.
For Eric Schalk, the biggest moment of the game came when his daughter Laine crossed home plate for the game-clenching run.
"Stepping out of the coach role, it's pretty fun to see your daughter score the winning run when she's never played before," he said.
Both coaches came away from this season enjoying the development and maturation of their players.
"First practice you always think, 'Oh my gosh, this is going to be a long season' and then they really do get better and it's fun just seeing them have a good time," Booker said.
"They learned something," coach Schalk added. "They learned fundamentals of the game. This is the first of the year that most of them have seen live pitching. So they see how to learn the game and learn a little more about it."