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Wednesday, Aug. 05, 2009

WRALL softball headed to World Series in Portland

Once again, fate tapped a Carriker on the shoulder. And, once again, a Carriker delivered.

Seven years after big sister Kaitlyn helped put Warner Robins on the Little League map and two years after big brother Dalton cemented the town’s spot in youth sports lore, Carson Carriker delivered a tie-breaking, two-run triple in the fifth inning to lead Georgia past Florida, 9-8, in the championship game of the Little League Southeast Region softball tournament Tuesday at Marshall University’s Dot Hicks Field in Huntington, W.Va.

Like the softball team in 2002 and the baseball squad in 2007, Warner Robins American Little League has again earned a World Series berth. This time it’s Aug. 13-19 in Portland, Ore.

Even before the Georgia state tournament, the youngest Carriker admitted she was feeling the pressure of living up to her siblings’ accomplishments. By phone, in the car on the way back to Warner Robins on Tuesday, Carriker shared her relief.

“I was thinking about it the whole time,” she said, “but now that I’m going, it’s amazing that I’m going.”

Florida had rallied from a 7-2 deficit to tie the game in the fourth inning. With two outs and Sydney Barker at third and pinch-runner Kelly Warner at first, Carriker tripled past Florida’s diving left fielder.

“I just knew I had to hit the ball and get on base to score those runs,” Carriker said.

Leading 9-7, Warner Robins still had work to do against what manager Emily Whaley called “the best hitting team we’ve faced.”

Florida scratched across a run in the bottom of the fifth to cut its deficit to just one. Then, in the bottom of the sixth and final inning, the girls from Windemere, Fla., loaded the bases with one out against Barker, who had returned to the pitcher’s circle in the fourth inning after starting.

Florida’s Jessica Chabot lined to second baseman Caitlin Parker for the second out. That left Barker to face Florida catcher Megan Sullivan, who already had singled twice in the game.

“We were all nervous,” Carriker said. “I did (want the ball hit to me), but I didn’t at the same time.”

Barker got the strikeout, just the second of the day for Georgia pitchers, sparking a team celebration near the dugout along the first-base line.

The two teams played a 1-0, eight-inning thriller Friday during pool play. But while that game was about good defense and clutch pitching, in the title game the hitters had their due. The teams combined for 22 hits. Neither team’s pitching staff retired the other’s side in order.

“When we had to, we cranked the bats up,” Whaley said.

The scoring came early and often. Georgia’s Sabrina Doucette lined the first pitch of the game to right-center for a triple. She scored on a single by Carriker as Warner Robins put three runs on the board in its first at-bat.

“The first inning isn’t usually a big inning for us,” Whaley said. “We needed every run we could get.”

Florida proved Whaley’s point in the bottom of the first. Mary-Sloan Bradford hit the tournament’s first home run, a line drive just inside the left-field foul pole with a runner aboard, to cut Georgia’s lead to 3-2.

The fun was just getting started.

Warner Robins seemed to take control with a four-run third, thanks in part to three Windemere errors. But the 7-2 advantage wasn’t safe, either. Florida plated three in its half of the third and then tied the game in the fourth. Bradford came through again — this time with a two-run double.

Florida’s eight runs were more than twice as many as Georgia had allowed in its previous four tournament games. But Warner Robins proved what Whaley had suggested before the tournament began: That the team was versatile enough to do whatever was necessary to win.

For the five games of the Southeast tournament, each of the 12 Warner Robins players got at least one hit. Pitchers Barker, Kaylee Albritton and Avery Lamb dominated through the first four games. Several different fielders came up with stellar defensive plays. And the bench players routinely contributed in the field, at the plate and on the bases.

Settling into the long trip home, Carriker summed up the makeup of the team.

“Anybody can come in at any time and do anything,” Carriker said.