She was locked in, ready to rock, and eager to make a statement.
As Powhatan's leadoff hitter, Mazie Harmon knew her teammates were counting on her to ignite the spark and set the tone in Thursday's win-or-go-home matchup pitting the Indians and visiting Hanover in the first round of the Region 4B softball playoffs.
So what if the Hawks led 2-0 when she stepped to the plate in the home half of the first inning?
It was her time, her moment, and she delivered.
Man, did she deliver!
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With one powerful swing of the bat, Harmon drilled a 1-0 fastball over the centerfield fence to set in motion a flurry of 18 hits that resulted in a 16-6 victory and a trip to Culpeper on Friday to face top-seeded Eastern View in the regional quarterfinals.
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"I fine-tuned some things with my hitting coach, Dave Clay of KIME Performance, on Tuesday," said Harmon, a junior catcher who went 2-for-3 with three RBI and scored four runs.
"I came into this game feeling really good. BP (batting practice) felt good.
"Leadoff batter...every time you step into the game, you're trying to get your team fired up, get yourself fired up.
"That was awesome. That was the best possible way I could have started the game."
The eighth-seeded Indians (13-7) batted around in both the first and second innings.
They scored eight runs on eight hits in the first and five runs on four hits in the second.
In the first, Megan Gobble followed Harmon's dinger with a single and scored from first on Ava Harper's double to right.
Brooklynn Narbut then singled to center sending Harper to third. Cassidy Moser singled to right scoring Harper. Adriana Flippen hit yet another single scoring Narbut.
Aaliyah Myers then singled to short left scoring Moser. Harmon doubled to left scoring both Flippen and Myers.
Gobble's single to right scored Harmon before the ninth-seeded Hawks (12-8) brought the inning to a close.
"The key was that after they came out and scored two, we did not lay down," said Powhatan coach Marie Crump. "We put the bat to the ball and made good contact which is what we work on all the time.
"We punched back, got some runs, and got the momentum. Once we had the momentum, we knew Hanover, as strong an offensive team as they are, would come back and score runs on us."
First, though, the Indians built a 13-2 lead after two innings.
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Skylar White's bases-loaded single scored Moser. With the bases still loaded, Harmon reached base on an error as Flippen, who arrived at first on a fielder's choice, and Myers, who had singled, raced home.
Gobble's single to left then scored Harmon.
"When the leadoff batter goes up and hits the ball hard, everyone else is like, yeah, I can do that too," Harmon said. "That just builds confidence."
The Hawks cut their deficit to 13-6 with four runs in the fourth.
Kaileigh Byars, a South Carolina signee, led off with a walk, advanced to third on Willow Dickenson's single to right, and scored on Kaycee Doughty's sacrifice fly.
C-Jay Bournes singled to center scoring both Dickenson and Kylie Towner, who had walked. Marisa Sawn then delivered a double to the wall in left scoring Bournes before the Indians stopped the threat.
Powhatan added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Narbut singled scoring Harmon (hit by pitch) and Gobble (walk), and Flippen's single to right scored Narbut.
Narbut, a junior righthander, pitched 4.1 innings, struck out five, allowed six hits, and walked four.
Though she surrendered four hits and two runs in the top of the first, she remained unfazed and unflappable.
"I felt like I've dealt with that all season: starting off (slowly) and working my way out of (jams)," she said. "It didn't worry me because I have confidence in our bats.
"This season has taught me to just focus on the next pitch and take each at-bat one at a time. Just stay in the moment."
The Indians have now won five in a row.
"This is an entire team," said Crump. "It's us. It's not a one-man show.
"Today, we hit the ball extremely well. When (Narbut) pitches, she knows she's got backup. Everybody's going to do all they can to play behind her and get the job done.
"I feel like we put it all together today."
Today in sports history: May 30 1911: Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500 1952: At 22, Troy Ruttman becomes youngest driver to win Indianapolis 500. 1955: Bob Sweikert, an Indianapolis native, wins the Indianapolis 500 1993: Emerson Fittipaldi wins his second Indianapolis 500 2005: Johns Hopkins wins its first NCAA lacrosse title in 18 years 2009: Travis Tucker's RBI single in 25th inning lifts Texas in longest NCAA baseball game 2010: Dario Franchitti takes advantage of last-lap wreck to win Indy 500 2011: Jim Tressel, who guided Ohio State to its first national title in 34 years, resigns 2012: Roger Federer breaks Jimmy Connors' Open era record of 233 Grand Slam match wins Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0