By Blake Colston
Sports Editor
Taybor Moss’ patience paid off.
Moss bats clean-up for Piedmont, but she didn’t have to swing the bat to be a hero Tuesday night against Guthrie. The junior first baseman coaxed a bases-loaded walk to give the Lady Wildcats a 4-3, walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh over the Blue Jays that clinched a district title for PHS.
Moss entered the at-bat with dreams of a walk-off hit dancing through her head, but didn’t swing at the first pitch, even though it was exactly where she wanted it, according to her.
“Coach told me to take (the pitch), so I took it,” Moss said. “It was extremely hard (not to swing).”
After throwing strike one, Guthrie pitcher McKenna Tucker missed on four straight pitches to Moss to force home the winning run.
Moss, who shed tears of joy afterward, said it didn’t bother her at all to keep the bat on her shoulder.
“I got the walk, I got the RBI and we won the game,” Moss said, “it all counts the same.”
Coleman said he knew Moss would connect if Guthrie threw her another good pitch, but also trusted her patience during the pressure-packed at-bat.
“I knew she wouldn’t expand the zone, especially with one out,” Coleman said. “Taybor is a kid that has started a whole bunch for us in two years and she’s one of the kids we want at the plate in those situations.”
Senior shortstop Karissa Fiegener two batters earlier brought home the tying run with an RBI-single to left field after catcher Aubrey Pyle led off the inning with a walk.
Piedmont (29-2) is 4-0 against Guthrie (17-6) over the last two seasons and three of the wins are in come-from-behind fashion by the same 4-3 margin.
“Once we go through our order once, we figure out what’s going on, then we start hitting the ball and it all starts building from there,” Moss said.
PHS also improved to 8-1 this season in games decided by three runs or less.
“This group handles adversity well,” Coleman said. “This was a great team effort tonight.”
Piedmont starting pitcher Payten Schibbelhute went the distance to earn the win for PHS. She scattered six hits and kept the Lady Wildcats in the game until their bats came alive.
“The best thing about Payten is that she’s unwavering. She’s calm, cool and collected and can make pitches when she needs to,” Coleman said. “Which is the kind of kid you want in the circle when it matters.”
Tayvin Davis had two doubles and an RBI for Piedmont in the game. Ashlee Eichler drove in two runs for Guthrie, which led 2-0 and 3-1 before surrendering the lead in the final frame.
Tuesday’s game was played in front of a large, loud crowd at F&M Bank Stadium and featured two likely state tournament teams. Moss said Piedmont, the state champions last season and in 2019, thrives on that kind of stage.
“We love playing in that atmosphere. We love having all the fans. It’s nice to see how much people want to come watch us and support us,” she said. “They just make everything fun.”
The district title is Piedmont’s sixth consecutive and was an important enough accomplishment for the Lady Wildcats to pose in front of the scoreboard for a photo afterward.
“This is one of our goals and it’s important, that’s why we take a picture for it,” Coleman said. “We only take three pictures with coaches in it – the district picture, the regional picture and the state tournament picture – hopefully we have two more pictures to take.”
