District softball: Massillon Jackson scores eight in seventh, including walk-off grand slam to stun Medina

MASSILLON — The Medina softball team needed one out to secure its first regional berth since 2013. It took one swing for that to go by the wayside. Massillon Jackson's Kendall Adams, who didn't even realize she was due at the plate, hit a two-out grand slam on a 3-2 pitch to give the second-seeded Polar Bears a 14-11 walk-off win over the sixth-seeded Bees in a crazy Division I, Northeast 2 District final Friday afternoon at Massillon High School. Adams' blast capped a wild seventh inning that saw Medina (19-7) score three times to go up 11-6 and Jackson (22-4) counter with eight runs on three hits, an error, three hit batters and a walk. "There were definitely some highs and lows, but I love everyone on this team," Bees senior center fielder Katie Rubino said. "I'm so proud of every single person here. It happens sometimes. Like my mom always says, everything can change in a single moment." In a game where rain fell intermittently but sometimes steadily, the powerful Polar Bears finished with four home runs — at least two others had the distance but were pulled foul — and Medina had two, both by freshmen. There were 25 runs, 30 hits, eight walks, four hit batters, four errors and 18 runners left on base, but no lead changes until the final swing. "We played our hearts out," Medina senior first baseman Ryann Allar said. "I'm proud of every girl on this team. I'll remember the culture. It was unbelievable. We all love each other and the coaches." The Bees, who scored three unearned runs in the top of the first and never trailed until the end, appeared in good shape when freshman pitcher Brooke Housum hit a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the seventh to give her team the 11-6 lead. Housum retired Adams to start the bottom of the seventh when right fielder Olivia Kish made a nice running catch in foul territory. After a hit batter and a pair of singles, Housum got the second out on a fly ball to Rubino. A hit by pitch, walk, hit by pitch and error followed, making the score 11-10 with Adams coming to the plate again. Housum fell behind 3-0, then threw a strike. Her next pitch also was called a strike, though the call didn't come until Adams had already taken several steps toward first base, thinking the game was tied. Adams then got back in the box and hit the next pitch over the center field fence, leading to a lot of celebrating by the Polar Bears and a ton of tears from the heartbroken Bees. "I was really stressed out," said Adams (2-0), who got the win despite giving up three runs in one inning of relief. "I didn't know I was up to bat because I was too busy cheering. I just threw a helmet on and said, 'I've got to do this for my team.' "Obviously, there was Ball 4 (on the fifth pitch), but I love pressure. It's the best time to show what you have." Pitching on a field that is 195 feet down the lines and 200 to center — and with a steady wind blowing directly to left-center — Housum (17-5) threw 129 pitches in an incredibly gutsy performance. The freshman gave up 17 hits but did not walk or hit a batter until the seventh. "She is one of the most steady players I've ever met," Rubino said. "It takes a lot to get in her head. She amazes me. I could never do what she does." Medina went up 3-0 in the first when Jackson botched a rundown, allowing a hung up Rubino to score. Hannah Neal followed two batters later with the first of her three hits — she also walked and was hit by a pitch — to plate Allar, who scored three times, and Kelsey Swinko, who had two singles and a walk. The Bees made it 6-1 in the third on a solo home run by freshman catcher Bailey McCoy and bases-loaded walks by Lily Cassidy and Reese Todaro, but the Polar Bears got back to 6-4 in their half on solo home runs by Remi Grooms and McKenzie Johnson and a fielder's choice groundout. The Bees went back up three on Rubino's single in the fifth, her second of the game, but Jackson made it 7-5 when Johnson hit her second double and came around to score. Medina scored an unearned run in the sixth and Madi Veno, Jackson's lone senior, hit her team's third home run in the bottom half to set up the epic seventh, with the top half of that inning coming to an end when the Bees had a runner thrown out at the plate. Medina, which also got a single and double from Olivia Hendrickson, had 13 hits and walked seven times but stranded 11 runners and left the bases loaded in the third, fifth and sixth innings. "We wish we had scored more runs, but we did what we could," Allar said. "You can't change anything in the moment. You just have to move on." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Jackson 14, Medina 11 Division I, Northeast 2 District Final MEDINA 303 011 3 — 11 13 1 JACKSON 013 011 8 — 14 17 3 Two outs when winning run scored. WP — Kendall Adams (2-0) inning, 3 runs, 3 earned, 4 hits, walk, 0 strikeouts. LP — Brooke Housum (17-5) 7 innings, 9 earned runs, walk, 3 hit by pitch, 0 strikeouts. Medina (19-7) — Katie Rubino 2 singles, RBI, run; Bailey McCoy home run; Ryan Allar single, walk, 3 runs; Kelsey Swinko 2 singles, walk, 2 runs; Housum single, home run, 3 RBIs; Hannah Neal 3 singles, walk, hit by pitch, 3 RBIs, run; Olivia Hendrickson single, double, walk; Lily Cassidy 2 walks, RBI; Erin Heidinger 2 runs. Jackson (22-4) — Kenna Blackstock sigle, double, hit by pitch, run; Remi Grooms single, home run, walk, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Gabbi Williamson 2 singles, double, hit by pitch, RBI, 2 runs; Adams grand slam; McKenzie Johnson 2 doubles, home run, 4 runs; Madi McGuire 2 singles, RBI; Abby Seders 2 singles, 2 RBIs, run; Madi Veno home run.