Speedy Alyssa Dougherty gets it done for Tunstall

RADFORD — Alyssa Dougherty looked over to a teammate after Tunstall had tied Patrick County and proclaimed, “It ain’t over till we win it!”

The senior center fielder got the chance to win the game and her quick feet didn’t fail her as she scored from first on a Taylor Dix two-out, eighth-inning double to give Tunstall a 3-2 victory over Patrick County and send the Trojans to the Group AA state championship game for the second consecutive season.

“There was no doubt that we were going to send her. It was two outs, bottom of the inning, she gets thrown out, we’ve got another inning to play,” longtime Tunstall coach Roger Cook said. “As far as I could see, it was going to take a good relay and a good throw. So, there was no question, never entered my mind.”

It was the second time Dougherty had scored from first on a double — both times coming after she had reached base on a bunt single. She tallied two of the team’s four hits and scored the team’s first and last runs.

Dougherty thought that with the game so close that Cook would send her home, even with two outs.

“I didn’t think I could run that fast, but that was kind of a toss up — either they threw the ball in or I got there fast enough,” Dougherty said. “I was thinking I better run as fast as I possibly can and I better beat the ball there because if not, we’re going to be going to some other innings. And I wanted it to be over — with us winning.”

It was more of vindication for Dougherty than anything else after Cook inserted her back into the lineup after her hitting had gone cold during the season. While she was still playing in the outfield, she would not get the chance to show off her speed on the base paths.

“That was really big. Alyssa had been just a flex player and then recently, she had been doing good in practice from the left side in laying the bunts down,” Tunstall senior pitcher Brittany Arnn said. “She’s really quick and Mr. Cook made the move to put her back in the lineup and that was a really smart move.”

Dougherty reached in the third inning with two outs and the Trojans trailing 2-0. Fellow senior Jenna Rudder capitalized with a double to center field, scoring Dougherty easily as she was stealing second on the pitch.

“I told her before she went up there, I just said, ‘Read the defense, you can do it,’ and I knew she could do it. I had total confidence in her,” Rudder said. “She’s quick enough to get on. I just knew that she could get that bunt down.”