Emma Tawney’s walk-off home run gives Francis Scott Key a 5-4 regional championship win over Liberty

Emma Tawney's walk-off home run captured a second straight regional championship for Francis Scott Key in another classic against Liberty.

Headed into the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied, last year’s 11-inning regional final war of attrition was on everyone’s mind as the Francis Scott Key-Liberty softball rematch seemed destined for extra innings.

One swing by Emma Tawney not only put those thoughts to rest, but put another regional championship plaque in the Francis Scott Key trophy case.

Tawney’s walk-off home run clinched back-to-back regional titles for the Eagles, as Francis Scott Key defeated Liberty once again, 5-4, for the Class 1A North Region II championship Wednesday night.

“I was not trying to have a marathon game like we did last year,” Tawney said. “I knew when it was my turn to hit, I was going to walk up and hit the ball hard.”

Tawney put on a show as the senior went 2-for-3 in what she wouldn’t let be her final game. She wasn’t the only one as teammates Kendall Jackman and Emma Taff also had multi-hit games for the Eagles (20-2). The Lions countered with multi-hit games from Erin Martin and Hannah DeVincent, as both teams refused to lose.

Jasmine Kline was on the mound once again for the Eagles, allowing eight hits and two earned runs over seven innings with three strikeouts.

After Evelyn Connor struck first for Liberty with a first-inning RBI single, Kline responded with her bat, tying the game in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single of her own before holding the Lions’ offense scoreless for the next four innings.

“She was amazing out there in some muddy and tough conditions,” FSK coach Stephen Turner said of Kline. “Her strikeout numbers weren’t up there but she hit her spots and was efficient. She kept the walks down and let her teammates play behind her.”

Joelle Staub, Jackman and Tawney all had RBI hits to give FSK a 4-1 lead through five innings.

The Lions (15-7) struck back late, plating two runs in the sixth, one on an RBI groundout and one on a wild pitch. Martin brought home the tying run in the seventh after a clutch RBI single, but Kline stayed tough, never giving the lead back and giving her teammates a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the inning.

“We all fight for each other,” Tawney said. “We know it’s our job to pick each other up after a bad play or rough inning. This is the best team I’ve ever been on.”

Before two great teams took the field, athletic director Ryan Kimble assembled a great team of his own as himself, Doug Lane, Josh Ritz, Joey Dehoff, Bethany and Shawn Reiter, Aaron Kline and Frank Brahms all worked for hours to prep a field that had been battered by heavy rain.

“It took a lot of great people in our community to make this game happen,” Turner said. “They were working since noon to get our field playable.”

While the Eagles are in wait-and-see mode about whether they will host Friday’s state semifinal game, Kimble is confident his volunteer grounds crew will have the field ready if need be.

Turner knows, home or away, there’s no other group of girls he’d rather go to battle with as they try and make it a step closer to a state title.

“I’d take my one through nine and put them up against any group in the state,” Turner said. “I love these girls, they have the drive, they have the work ethic and now they have another regional championship to their names, it’s been amazing to see.”

1A North region II final

Liberty — 100 002 1 — 4 8 0

Francis Scott Key — 210 010 1 — 5 8 1

WP: Jasmine Kline (FSK) LP: Sophia Steele (L)

2B: Haleigh Hodges (L) 3B: Maria Haney (L)

HR: Emma Tawney (FSK)