FPD topples Tattnall 11-8 in extra innings thriller for region lead

After FPD third baseman Addison Arnold struck out for the second time in the early innings of the Vikings’ crucial road game against Tattnall, head coach Shaun Bridger took one of his best hitters aside.

“I came to her and told her, ‘You’re gonna come up in a spot in this game that’s gonna be big,’” Bridger said. “I said, ‘I believe in you. I know you’re gonna do something special, you’ve done it for us all year.’”

Even Bridger might not have known how right he was.

Arnold heeded her coach’s words, smacking a huge three-run homer in the fifth and delivering the go-ahead base hit in extra innings to help get FPD a thrilling 11-8 win in nine innings Tuesday night.

The victory, which puts FPD in a three-way tie with Tattnall and John Milledge atop the standings of GIAA Class 4A District 6, came after the Vikings lost a 6-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh and a 7-6 lead in the eighth inning.

“We’re resilient,” Bridger said simply when asked about his team. “This team’s battled all year long. We started (the season) out slow, evened off in the middle and now we’re back on track with our hitting … this team is just tough.”

FPD moved to 13-3 overall and 5-2 in district play. Arnold ended the game three for five with five RBIs, while Mallie Moughon and Emma Morgan each also drove in a pair.

Vikings ace pitcher Gracyn Fuller, who got through six stellar innings before losing her lead in stunning fashion in the seventh frame, got right back on the horse and finished the complete game. She tossed nine innings and struck out 16 Tattnall batters, working through some location problems with grit.

“Gracyn’s just got that stone-faced mentality,” Bridger said of his ace pitcher. “Nothing phases her, nothing bothers her. She knows that it’s gonna be a battle, she knows that’s a great team over there. We had a hiccup in the seventh where we gave up the five runs, but this team didn’t give up. They have her back. She’s a big reason we are where we are.”

The Trojans fell to 12-5 overall and are also 5-2 in District 6 play. While the loss was heartbreaking, Tattnall did anything but roll over. The seventh-inning comeback, which was capped by a Mercer West two-run homer that elicited raucous cheers from a solid Tattnall home crowd, was a notable offensive effort for the Trojans.

“I just told them to find a way to pass it on to the next person. You’re not going to hit a six or seven-run home run. That’s exactly what they did, and I’m super proud of our girls and the way we fought and competed,” Tattnall head coach Jordan Brooks said. “We weren’t at our best, but we played well against a great pitcher. Gracyn is tough, and she’s been tough for three years. Hats off to her for keeping us off balance, for the most part.”

Callie Still also pitched a complete game. Her effort for the Trojans included 14 strikeouts.

Both teams scored one run early before the bats went quiet for a few innings, but FPD eventually got its five-run advantage with two scores in the fourth followed by Arnold’s long ball in the fifth to make it 6-1. Tattnall had a hard time hitting Fuller until it manufactured its comeback in the seventh.

The Vikings scored a run in the eighth when Tattnall tried to throw a baserunner out stealing second, which allowed FPD’s runner on third to come to the plate. The Trojans equalized in the bottom of the eighth — even after Reese Covington was, much to the dismay of Tattnall’s players and fans, called out trying to score on a wild pitch — to send things to the ninth.

FPD’s bats got going again in that final frame, as Jessica Jones laid down a bunt and Fuller walked before Arnold came through yet again with a two-RBI knock on a hard grounder to the left side. 

“We just gotta be better with the little things. We’ve always done a good job of fighting and not giving up, and we did that, but there’s just so much to learn from this one,” Brooks said. “If you just clean up a little bit, errors, baserunning stuff, you win the ballgame. You win it. You just have to do the little things right, that’s always been our motto.

With the three-run win, the Vikings have the run differential tiebreakers over both Tattnall and John Milledge in the district. Tattnall lost to John Milledge on Sept. 16 but will get another shot at them Oct. 2 in what will likely determine second and third place in the district.

GIAA’s playoff seeds are determined by MaxPreps rankings, however, and both coaches are already considering the tournament down the road.

“Whatever happens happens in the region. That’s definitely a goal, but going to the playoffs and winning state is our long-term goal. Our girls have worked hard for that,” Bridger said. “Hats off to Tattnall, and we might see them again.”

Brooks, disappointed as he was with the loss, had a similar thought.

“Hopefully we’ll see her and them again. If we play our best and they play their best, they’ll go out there and compete,” Brooks said. “It would be another great game.”