Simon delivers clutch homer to put Pittsfield on top, snags line drive in seventh to seal victory

PLEASANT HILL, Ill. — It was only fitting that the Pittsfield softball team’s victory over Pleasant Hill on Tuesday ended with the ball in Lila Simon’s glove.

Simon’s bat put the Saukees in position to win the game in the first place.

After blasting a two-out, three-run home run off of Saint Louis University commit Ava Wombles to give the Saukees a 4-1 lead in the top of the sixth, Simon snared a line drive off the bat of Ally Neitzel with the tying run at second base to seal a 4-3 Saukees victory.

Simon, a senior second baseman, was unsure if she caught the ball or it caught her.

“I think a little bit of both, honestly,” she said.

Either way, Simon was in the right place at the right time, even if her pitcher’s heart skipped a beat.

“Yeah, it did a little bit,” Emma Wombles said. 

Emma Wombles and the rest of the Saukees swarmed Simon following the final out, just like they did after she broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth. She belted a hanging screwball from Ava Wombles over the left-field fence, her first home run of the season and seventh of her high school career.

“I thought it was out there, but I didn’t know it was gone until I rounded second,” Simon said. “It felt good off the bat.”

Simon received an embrace from Pittsfield coach Ariana White as she took the field for the bottom of the sixth.

“Lila had her moment,” White said. “She came back from the dugout, and I gave her a high five and a little hug, and I said, ‘That ball must have looked like a beach ball to you because it was outta here.’ She goes, ‘It felt very good coming off the bat.’ I was very happy for her.”

Wolves coach Ryan Lowe expressed regret for calling the pitch that led to the home run.

“That mistake’s probably on me,” Lowe said. “It was a screwball inside. We’d been living there for a while, and they finally caught up to one. She made us pay, for sure.”

The Wolves answered with a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the sixth — one on Kate Hubbard’s single and another on Kaitlyn Borrowman’s double — but Emma Wombles struck out Makenna Winchell to strand courtesy runner Kaylee Toohill at second.

Emma Wombles again pitched her way out of danger in the seventh. Ava Wombles walked to lead off the inning and reached second after advancing on a passed ball on the first pitch to Maddie Sidwell. Emma Wombles then struck out Sidwell and Ada Little before Neitzel lined out to Simon.

“I think she enjoys the pressure,” White said of Emma Wombles. “I don’t understand it, but I think she enjoys the pressure.”

Emma Wombles confirmed as much.

“Normally, that’s not someone’s favorite position to be in, but honestly, I love those situations,” Emma Wombles said. “It’s so weird, but I love being out there and having pressure. I just shut everything out and lock in.”

Emma and Ava Wombles, who are distant cousins, combined for 29 strikeouts and just five walks.

“It was a pitcher’s duel, for sure,” Lowe said. “Both girls did a phenomenal job. There were some runs on the board, but that was a good game, good performances by both of them.”

Saukees senior catcher Grace Henry went 3 for 4 with a run-scoring single in the first. Her twin sister Emma went 2 for 4. Seven Wolves recorded a hit. Ava Wombles delivered an RBI double down the left-field line to tie the game in the fifth.

The Saukees (12-3-1) play host to Beardstown on Wednesday, while the Wolves (8-3) will have Wednesday off before a road matchup with Jacksonville Routt on Thursday.