Walk Off from Lattrell in the 10th!!!
Millbrook welcomed Greens Farms Academy on a beautiful Monday afternoon. The Mustangs and GFA have had great games over the past few years, and we were excited for the match up.
GFA jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, taking advantage of some free passes to get runners into scoring position. The Mustangs then responded in the bottom of the first with 3 runs of their own. Jaicee Downs ‘26 doubled to start things off, followed by Hailey Vigna ‘27 working a walk. During Meghan Abbate ‘29’s at bat (which led to a walk), Jaicee Downs was able to score on a passed ball. Joiee Downs ‘29 then scored Vigna on an RBI fielder’s choice. Emma Lattrell ‘29 then had a great line drive up the middle to score Abbate. Millbrook went into the 2nd inning with the 3-2 lead.
The second inning saw GFA and Millbrook trade quick outs, with Abbate getting three strikeouts on the frame.
The top of the third inning saw an amazing bunt double play: Lattrell fielded the bunt at third to make the throw to Kate Rubinstein ‘27 at first, who then fired it back to Lattrell to get the tag down for the advancing GFA runner. GFA did manage to tie it up on a great placed hard hit down the right field line that the runner extended for an in-the-park homer. Millbrook was unable to score in the bottom of the third inning, entering the 4th inning tied 3-3.
Millbrook had a great 4th inning, with Abbate notching another 3 strikeouts in the frame. In the bottom of the 4th, the Mustangs had some good contact and heads-up at bats to score two more runs. Rubinstein got things started with a bunt single, followed by Lattrell and Bea Rotkiewicz ‘29 working walks to load the bases for Jaicee Downs - who had a great 2-RBI line drive. Millbrook lead, 5-3 heading into the 5th inning.
The 5th inning saw good Millbrook defense, as Sherry Yang ‘29 had a heads-up fielder’s choice to get the lead runner at second base and then also had a good catch on an infield pop-up.
GFA was able to plate another run in the 6th to cut the Millbrook lead to 5-4. GFA then added one more run in the top of the 7th to tie things up.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, Millbrook had the top of the order up. Jaicee Downs worked a walk, followed by Vigna getting on with a great bunt - and heads-up base running from Downs led her all the way to third. Game winning run on third base. After two pop-ups, Rubinstein came to the plate and executed the squeeze bunt perfectly but was just barely thrown out at first, so we headed to extra innings, tied 5-5.
The top of the 8th inning saw Abbate’s 5th 3-strikeout inning. In the bottom of the 8th, Millbrook wasn’t able to make anything happen offensively.
The top of the 9th saw great defense from Millbrook - Yang with a ground ball out, a heads up out after a bunt overthrow, and a pop-up to Abbate on the mound. In the bottom of the 9th, despite Jaicee Downs getting things started with a hit, the Mustangs weren’t able to plate a run.
We then entered the 10th inning - where the international tie breaker comes into play, where each team starts with a runner on 2nd base. GFA was able to plate a run off a Millbrook throwing error, but then Millbrook buckled down and got three quick outs.
Millbrok was down 5-6 in the bottom of the 10th inning but still had some fight left in them. Joiee Downs ‘29 started out on second base, per the international tie break rule. Rubinstein then put the ball in play to get on and move Downs over to third. Great heads-up running brought Rubinstein over to second base. There were then two runners in scoring position for Lattrell at the plate. Solid contact to the right side scored Downs for the tie, and then super heads-up base running from Rubinstein allowed her to score on the play as well for the win!
A big shout out to Abbate for 17 strikeouts in 10 innings of work.
A great win that reflected mental toughness and confidence from the Mustangs.
Offensive Highlights:
Jaicee Downs: 3-4, with 2 RBI
Emma Lattrell: 2-4 with 3 RBI
Kate Rubinstein: 2-5 with 2 runs
Hailey Vigna: 2-4
The Mustangs look to host Westover on Wednesday.
