Over the course of one’s athletic career, there are certain games or moments that will be ingrained in the memory of not only the athlete, but also those who were lucky enough to witness such a game or moment.
Thursday night, Columbus North’s Meghan Waggoner had both. Not only did she throw a no-hitter against Class A No. 7 Hauser, but she also hit a walkoff, two-run homer to end the game in the fifth inning, sealing a 10-0 victory.
“This was definitely the best game of my career,” Waggoner said. “I had no idea I had a no-hitter. During warmups I didn’t feel that great, but I was able to mix up my pitches well during the game.”
Waggoner was actually perfect through the first 4 2/3 innings before hitting back-to-back batters in the fifth. Those two hit batters were the only Jets to reach base all night. Waggoner promptly got the next hitter to fly out to left to end the threat.
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And yet, even after dominating on the mound, Waggoner was still not done. With her team leading the Jets (17-5) 8-0 and hitting in the bottom of the fifth, she came to the plate with a runner on and launched a deep home run to left-center field, giving the Bull Dogs (5-15) the five-inning victory.
“It was a good pitch to hit. When I hit it, it felt really good, so I knew it had a chance to go out,” Waggoner said.
Waggoner also had plenty of help. Sierra Norman got North on the board in the bottom of the first with a line-drive home to dead center field of Hunter Crain. In the second, the Bull Dogs broke the game open. Brooke Rice led off with a single. That was followed by a double from Waggoner.
Brittany Reichenba then knocked Rice in with a fielder’s choice. That was followed by two more singles, a pair of walks and a double by Lilly Hurt off of the top of the wall. In all, North scored seven runs on five hits in the inning to take a commanding 8-0 lead before Waggoner ended the game three innings later with her heroics.
North coach Ron McDonald has seen continued improvement from his team recently, especially now that it is healthy.
“Meghan pitched well at Jennings County the (Tuesday) night. When she is motivated through the whole game, she’s tough to deal with. She is only a freshman, but she is growing up right in front of our eyes.”
McDonald also is happy to have a healthy team again.
“With the injuries, we had a lot of girls playing out of position, and that hurt us defensively. Now that we have everyone back but Haylee (Acton), we are starting to play pretty well. We are also starting to hit the ball up and down the lineup. For a while, Sierra Norman and Bailey Lofton had to shoulder the load. At first, our goal was to just compete. Now, I feel like we can beat some teams.”
