Marian High School (Omaha, Neb.) softball channeled its inner Benny The Jet Rodriguez in its comeback championship victory on Friday — the 4-3 win was walked-off by successfully escaping a pickle.
After entering the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 3-1, Marian put two runs on the board to tie the game and had the potential game-winning runner on first base. Though there were two outs in the inning, the batter laid down a bunt.
The throw to first from the third baseman went awry. Maddia Groff, who was the runner on first to start the play, continued past second, through third base and headed home.
The ball beat her home in plenty of time. Groff tried to stop on a dime but slipped, giving the Gretna High School (Neb.) catcher a chance to nab her. Surely, as Groff got up and headed back toward third, she was about to be called out and the game would go into extra innings.
Only — she wasn’t. It didn’t. Take a look:
Marian walks it off to win the Class A Softball Title.@MaddiaG scores in the midst of the pickle for the game-winning run. @CrusadersSball takes home its 2nd championship.
(video: @NFHSNetwork) pic.twitter.com/INggEiBAye
— Matt Foster KETV (@MattFosterTV) October 14, 2022
Local outlet 3News Now has another angle of the title-winning play.
To make the comeback win even sweeter, Gretna was the only team in the regular season to beat Marian. The 33-2 Crusaders lost the season opener to Gretna in extra innings and then fell 9-1 on Sept. 12.
The Crusaders wouldn’t lose another game, and got revenge for both losses by winning the one that mattered.
This is Marian’s second championship, according to 3News Now.
