FIGHTING OFF TEARS, NAGY GIVES DAMASCUS 3A WEST REGION TITLE

By Robert Klemko

Representing the winning run in a regional championship game can be a lot of pressure. Just ask Damascus second baseman Amanda Nagy.

The senior, who has played on two 3A softball state finalist teams, fought back tears as she took the plate in the bottom of the seventh with the score knotted 3-3. Then, after she ripped the very first Urbana pitch of the inning deep to left over the outfielder's head, Nagy's floodgates opened.

"She was just so overwhelmed," Damascus Coach Barb King said. "She's coming to third and I'm like 'Oh no, she's hurt'... and she said 'I'm just so happy!'"

Nagy's triple put the winning run in scoring position, just in time for the team leader in home runs and RBI's to take the plate.

Damascus shortstop Taylor Wyatt took several pitches before cracking a fly ball deep to left, giving a tearful Nagy enough time to tag up for the 4-3 win and the Swarmin' Hornets' second straight 3A West title.

"It's the one that takes you to states and it was everything it should be for a championship," King said.

It was fitting that Wyatt got to step back and relax as the winning run tore home, given how much work the junior had already put in.

After all, it was Wyatt who kicked off the Hornets' two-run third inning, driving home Nagy for the first time with a triple hit deep to centerfield. It was Wyatt again moments later, racing down the third base line to turn an infield blooper into a 2-0 lead.

Five hours earlier, it was Wyatt who led seven of her teammates to the softball field during their afternoon classes to groom the infield, a measure against the driving rains that postponed a majority of county playoff action. Wyatt said she had to take several "breaks" from her afternoon classes in order to ensure that the game would be played today rather than tomorrow, the day of the Damascus prom.

"Softball is the most important thing obviously," she said with a laugh. "I just wanted this win really bad and it's going to be awesome if we get to state [finals]."

Six hours later, Wyatt jumped into the waiting arms of Nagy at home plate and didn't leave her side until the team posed for pictures holding the 3A West championship plaque.

"It was a huge game and we just all really wanted it," Wyatt said. "A lot of teams just don't play together during the regular season and think they can just come together during the playoffs, but we played as a team the whole year and that's why we won it today."

Damascus pitcher Alli Part didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning, when Urbana's Kelly Voress reached on a single to left and scored moments later when a throwing error at third gave the Hawks their first run. Down 3-1 after an unearned Damascus run in the sixth, Urbana rallied in the final inning with RBI singles from junior Katelyn Wilkes and sophomore Jocelyn Juenger.

"It was nerve-racking and they had a great comeback... they worked all the way to the end just like we did, but we pulled through," Wyatt said. "It sucked at the time, but we responded and worked as a team."

Part's response couldn't have come at a better time. After Urbana tied the game at 3, Part struck out the final batter with the bases loaded and the No. 3 hitter on deck. Coach King like her team's chances in the bottom of the seventh.

"At that point, when we got our chance, I knew we had to hit," King said. "We had the meat of our lineup coming up and I knew we were in the best situation we could ask to be in."

Wyatt's walk-off RBI ended Urbana's state playoff hopes after the Hawks rebounded from a 7-11 regular season to win three straight postseason games by a 21-3 margin. Coach Frank Husson said he expected his team to rebound accordingly when healthy.

"We started off with 16 players and at the end of the season I was struggling to field ten healthy bodies," Husson said. "Once we started getting healthy it came as no suprise that this team made it as far as we did."

The win puts the Hornets one step closer to their third state title bid in four years. To get back to the championship, Damascus with have to go through the winner of the La Plata- Northern Calvert matchup in the 3A South. Before the regional final game, neither team had given up a run in the playoffs.

The 2005 and 2007 state championship losses are still fresh in Nagy's mind. The four-year varisty player has more playoff experience than anyone on the roster.

"We just stepped up our game, played defense and did what we had to do today," Nagy said. "We have one more game then we go to states and we're finally gonna win states this year."

Wyatt remembers last year's 2-0 state final loss to Chesapeake for the seniors that led them there. Among them, Ellen Smith was the team's most valuable player all four years with 26 RBIs in 2007. Wyatt, who drove home her 35th and 36th RBIs of 2008 on Friday, says this team is finally starting to live up to that legacy.

"This is big for us. We've lost some great players from last year but we're back were we should be," Wyatt said. "We're like the unsung heroes."