On her special night, Wood River High School senior Jamie Stone got up-close-and-personal with home plate twice Thursday at South Valley Sports Complex softball field.
It was "Senior Night" for the Wolverine softball team on the Hailey diamond. Stone, the team's only senior, made the most of it.
A four-year letterman playing volleyball, basketball and softball for Wood River, Stone touched home plate for the winner during the game. And she officially signed a college softball letter-of-intent right there on home plate afterwards.
Stone (3 hits) drove home the tying run and scored the winner in her team's dramatic 6-5 extra-inning victory over Great Basin Conference West rival Burley. The win assured Hailey (12-7) of its first-ever winning season at the 4A level.
Then, during "Senior Night" festivities, Wood River athletic director Ron Martinez carried out the official paperwork for Stone to sign with the College of Southern Idaho for a full-tuition scholarship to play softball. And Stone signed it on home plate.
"What a heckuva way for Jamie to end a senior season!" said Wolverine coach Dale Martin in post-game comments to the partisan crowd. Right after, Stone's teammates chased her around the field and piled onto her near the pitcher's mound.
And it was a heckuva game. Wood River freshman pitcher Samantha Engel (13 K, 3 BB) battled the whole way and allowed only three hits, two by catcher McKel Baker. The Wolverines committed four errors so there were times when Engel had to work out of jams.
Stone's RBI single made it 1-1 in the first. K.D. Pruett (2 hits) tripled and scored in the fourth for a 2-2 tie.
Baker's one-out, two-run single broke the 2-2 tie in the fifth and put Burley back on top 4-2. Wood River answered back when LeighAndra Roberts had a great at-bat and drew a walk, followed by an RBI triple by Vennesa Valentine (3 runs) and an RBI grounder by Angela Coleman.
Engel got better and better after Baker's fifth-inning hit. She whiffed seven of the next eight Bobcat batters to keep Burley scoreless. Burley pitcher Kandace Dalton was nearly as good, benefiting from solid defense to hold Hailey's batters at bay.
Tied 4-4 after the regulation seven innings, the decision went to the extra-inning hurry-up tiebreaker in which each team gets to bat with a runner already at second base. Burley struck first when Jessica Garn's RBI single brought Jacobi Koch home.
Valentine started off at second for Wood River and raced to third base on a Coleman bouncing ball. Stone, the team's best hitter, came to the plate and ripped several foul balls.
Behind on the count, she blooped a high double to center field that scored Valentine for a 5-5 tie. Stone then drew a low Bobcat throw while dancing off second base on the throw into the infield. Burley couldn't put together a good relay and Stone scampered home with the winner.
