FULTON – Stormy Robison's walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh scored Codie Jones from second and Northwest ended a two-year drought with a thrilling, 4-3 win over East Central on the opening day of the MACJC State Tournament.
The win qualifies Northwest for the Region XXIII Tournament May 3-5 in Clinton. | Watch Replay
Winners in 15 of its last 17 games, Northwest improved to 30-9-1 with the victory while East Central's season came to a close at 31-15 overall.
Vicki Johnson's two-out, RBI-single in the fourth broke open a scoreless game, scoring pinch runner Amanda Bies who came on to run for Lauren Riley after a triple.
Northwest extended its lead to 3-0 in the fifth, using a pair of infield singles from Casey Baddley and Robison and taking advantage of a Warrior error. Robison's bunt single scored pinch runner Courtney Clay after a wild throw to first and Anna Barham's squeeze bunt a batter later scored Robison.
East Central rallied to tie the game with three unanswered runs over the sixth and seventh, with Haylee Roberts and Brittany Pounders delivering an RBI-single and double and Haelie Allen tying the game on a 3-2 count with a bloop single to left.
Northwest, however, didn't panic after squandering a three-run lead, using Jones' leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh and sacrificing her over on Baddley's team-leading 12th sac bunt of the year.
That set the stage for Robison's biggest hit of her career, as the sophomore sent the second pitch she saw from Tenna Patterson over the head of the right fielder that scored Jones for the game-winning run.
Northwest edged out East Central 6-5 in the hits column, with Robison picking up two and Riley, Johnson, Jones and Baddley each adding a hit.
Baddley (17-1) needed 119 pitches in her 15th complete game of the season, scattering five hits, three runs (one earned) and three strikeouts.
The 30-win milestone marks the third time in six years Northwest has accomplished the feat – all under current head coach and MACJC Hall of Famer Mike Rowan.
Northwest will move on to face 3rd-ranked Jones County (37-7) in the semifinals on Friday with first pitch set for noon from Lady Indian Field in Fulton.
Live video (watch here) and live stats (follow here) will be available for all NWCC tournament games.
