Clutch homer
- Updated: March 27, 2025
Arnold’s two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning gives White Plains an answer to Pleasant Valley’s rally, and Wildcats win a classic between top-three county seeds.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
WHITE PLAINS — Leighton Arnold walks to the plate to theme music from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” and the senior struck gold on senior night.
He three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning reclaimed the lead for White Plains, and the Wildcats fought off Pleasant Valley 9-8 Thursday in a game between top three seeds for next week’s Calhoun County Tournament.
White Plains (12-7), ranked No. 7 in Class 4A in this week’s Alabama Sports Writers Association rankings, will hold the No. 3 seed when the county tournament starts Monday at Woodland Park.
Pleasant Valley (18-5), the top-ranked team in Class 2A, will hold the No. 3 seed.
Thursday’s game played out like a clash of top-three seeds.
“Obviously, we did not play clean,” first-year White Plains coach Anna Burgess said. “Those are things that we must fix, however, they could’ve very easily rolled over and died.
“They didn’t. They fought back, and I was extremely proud of that.”
Arnold’s game-winning at bat came with all of the tension that her walk-up music foretells.
Karli Otwell’s two-run home run in the second inning had helped White Plains to build as much as a 6-2 lead.
Pleasant Valley rallied with three runs in the fifth and two in the sixth, taking a 7-6 lead when Alexa Cranmer’s line drive to the right-center field gap triggered two errors that resulted in two runs.
That set the stage for the White Plains sixth, and Sara Kate Adams and Otwell hit two-out singles ahead of Arnold’s at bat. Her walk-up music, which she picked from a TikTok compilation of walk-up songs as a sophomore, fit the tension.
The game situation was enough tension, but Arnold had to battle Pleasant Valley pitcher Lily Henry, one of her best friends.
“It’s tough,” Arnold said. “You’ve got to flip a switch. We’re going against each other right now,”
Pleasant Valley called timeout for a conference on the mound.
“I hate when people call time right before I’m up to bat,” she said, “I had enough time to say a little prayer before I went up.
“I struggled at the plate before, and I said me a little prayer, and God answered my prayer.”
Arnold sent Henry’s first pitch high to the left-field corner, and it flew directly over the foul pole.
“I felt like it was taking forever,” Arnold said. “Then I seen his (the umpire’s) hand, and I was like, ‘OK.’”
White Plains’ dugout emptied to meet Arnold at home plate. She touched to make it 9-7.
Pleasant Valley added a run in the top of the seventh when Elise Wheeler’s grounder scored Haylie Lee, but White Plains reliever Carli Fritts induced an Abby Evans grounder back to the circle to end it.
The two teams huddle around the pitching circle after the game. Arnold and Henry embraced after the huddle.
“Especially today, it was a special moment for me, being able to see each other on our senior night,” Arnold said. “It meant a lot to me.”
Arnold finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs, and Otwell went 3-for-4 with a run and two RBIs. Adams went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs.
Arnold spread out five hits and two walks and gave up one earned run with five strikeouts while pitching the first five innings. Fritts pitched the final two innings, allowing one hit, no walks and no earned runs with two strikeouts.
Pleasant Valley’s Aubree Cromer went 3-for-4 with three runs, and Ellie Patterson had a single and three RBIs. Cranmer was 1-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.
Henry relieved Lee and pitched the final 4 1/3 innings, allowing five hits, no walks and three earned runs with four strikeouts.
“They’ve got a good club. They always do,” Pleasant Valley coach David Bryant said. “It was a lot of fun. Those kinds of games pay off later in the year for us, because we get pushed.
“We learn a lot of things about our team that we need to improve on. We had a couple of innings where we had two-out errors, and those will come back to haunt you. That’s softball. We’ll learn from it and grow from it.”
Photo gallery by Joe Medley
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