Zion Chapel downs Goshen 3-2 in ‘battle to the end,’ picks up big area win

Twenty miles of curvy back roads separate the communities of Goshen and Jack.

 

But they might as well be right next door to one another.

The Goshen Lady Eagles and Zion Chapel Lady Rebels have developed a friendly rivalry, and a new chapter was written Tuesday afternoon.

Goshen and Zion Chapel went toe-to-toe for seven tense innings, but in the end it was the Lady Rebels that came up with one more play to seal a 3-2 win.

“It was a battle to the end,” said Zion Chapel head coach Chelsi Jones. “We have gotten used to playing close games with them. The girls got behind early, but they never got down. They battled back and won this game. I am so proud of them.”

Goshen led 1-0 in the second inning, but that all changed after back-to-back hits from Billie Copeland and Samantha Sanders.

Copeland singled, while Sanders drilled an RBI double to left field.

Sanders later scored on a Goshen throwing error to give the Lady Rebels a 2-1 lead.

Goshen’s Haley Hughes tied the game with a clutch RBI double to left, scoring Samantha Roy.

“Haley is used to going the opposite way,” said Goshen head coach Amy Warrick. “She used to be a slapper, and is now working on punching that ball through. She has come up with some huge hits for us, and today was just another.”

It was Zion Chapel that made the game’s biggest play.

In the bottom of the sixth with the go-ahead run on third, Hayleigh Dewberry, an eighth grader, dropped a perfect bunt in front of the pitcher. Goshen took the out at first, and Sanders slid in to home as the relay throw skipped off the mitt of the catcher.

“I didn’t call the bunt, she did,” said Jones. “I told our runner on third to be ready to go on anything, and she made the perfect read.”

Zion’s Shelby Sorrels closed out Goshen in the seventh and the Lady Rebels got a leg up in the area title chase.

“We have beat them once, and they have beat us once,” said Jones. “It is still up in the air and there is a lot of softball to be played, but we like having one in our back pocket.”