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Softball: Chelsea Lately: Herndon HR gives Hebron dramatic 4-2 win over Plano
By Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
FRISCO -- A year ago, the Plano Senior softball team eliminated Hebron in the regional quarterfinals.
It seemed as though that result, which also ended the coaching career of former Hawks leader Sue Dunn, would repeat itself in Saturday's one-game rematch as Hebron trailed, 2-0, with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
Hawks junior Chelsea Herndon had other ideas when she stepped up with runners at the corners after junior Amanda Sloper got plunked and senior Heather Stearns drew her third walk of the game. Having smacked the hit that pushed Hebron past Flower Mound Marcus and into the playoffs three weeks ago, Herndon topped that feat with a three-run homer off the scoreboard in right field to give the Hawks the lead in an eventual 4-2 third-round win.
Less than two feet separated the game-changing home run from a leaping third out for Plano.
Herndon's homer gave Hebron the lead, but that wasn't her initial plan.
"I was just looking to make contact, so we could at least score a run," Herndon said. "I didn't want to let the team down. And I didn't even feel it when I hit the ball, so I had a feeling (it could be going out)."
The emotion of the moment was evident.
"You saw tears when Chelsea crossed the plate," Jackson said. "Those were tears of hard work."
The three-run homer reversed a game-long trend as Hebron had consistently gotten on base during the regional quarterfinal only to see Plano senior pitcher Kat Batey, who went the distance and allowed only four hits, work out of trouble time and again. Prior to the final frame, the Hawks had stranded seven runners with five in scoring position.
"That was definitely concerning," Jackson said, "but at the same time I tried to look at that as a positive because we were able to put pressure on Plano all game."
That pressure paid off in the seventh.
Following Herndon's home run, junior Deja Talton belted a solo homer to make it 4-2. That's the same Talton who wasn't listed in the playoff program.
"Really," Jackson said with a chuckle, "we will definitely have to fix that!"
For all the momentum Hebron gained in the top of the seventh, the dugout for the Lady Wildcats remained positive, not surprising given the numerous comebacks the team constructed last season en route to the Class 5A State Tournament.
"We didn't have any doubt that we could still come back," said Katie Hart, Plano senior catcher.
The Lady Wildcats did make things interesting.
Thanks to an infield single from senior Kristen Miles, who had two of the team's four hits off Hebron senior pitcher Heather Stearns, Plano brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh. But Stearns, who struck out 12, would get a pop out and fly out to end the game with Hebron on top, 4-2.
"Plano has been such a big rival for us the past three years," Stearns said. "They sent us home last year and that was not going to happen again, we were not going to go home crying again.
"We worked hard all season for games like this."
Herndon echoed those sentiments.
"We wanted to beat Plano so bad ... no, we had to beat them," she said. "Especially after the way last season ended, there was no way we were going home today."
Hebron's playoff theme has been repeating history as the Hawks are following a similar trajectory to the postseason route they took in 2010, which included a regional final win over Plano to advance to state.
But for most of Saturday, it appeared as if Hebron would repeat 2011 as Plano didn't trail until the seventh.
The Lady Wildcats got on the board in the fourth without picking up a hit as Stearns walked seniors Mackenzie Velasquez and Erin Lowell before an infield pop up was dropped to give Plano a 1-0 lead. The District 8-5A champs doubled up that advantage in the fifth following an RBI double from Velasquez.
That 2-0 margin remained in place until the seventh.
"We were trying not to let up going into that last inning because we knew we still had three more outs to go," said Ashley McDowell, Plano senior first baseman. "We wanted to make that our best inning of the season ... unfortunately, it wasn't."
And Herndon can take the blame or credit for that, depending on which side of the standing-room only crowd at Staley Middle School one was watching from.
"This was a great game," Jackson said. "We respect the Plano program so much. They are great competition and this was a great environment today with an amazing crowd ... just ... what a moment."
The 4-2 final ended Plano's season at 29-6 while Hebron moves on to the Region I Semifinals against El Paso Americas.
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