Gilson's grand slam leads PCM over Davis County

MONROE — Prairie City-Monroe turned an early-inning scare into an early exit for Davis County from the Class 3A playoffs Tuesday night.

Patience and power helped the Mustangs eliminate Davis County from the District 7 tournament by a score of 15-3 in six innings.

PCM clean-up hitter Abigail Gilson delivered a crushing blow in the form of a fourth-inning grand slam that gave her team the lead for good.

"It kind of just changed the game for us," PCM head coach Whitney Plein said.

Davis County, which entered Tuesday with a 5-24 record, proved to be a handful for PCM (21-7) through the first three innings.

Davis County threatened early and often, loading the bases in the first and the third. PCM starting pitcher Kayla Jennings lasted only two innings. The visiting Mustangs scored twice on sharp line drives off Jennings and then added another run for a 3-0 lead when Gilson, PCM's catcher, tried picking off a runner at third but instead threw the ball into left field.

PCM recovered from its errors and deficit in the fourth by breaking out of a minor funk at the plate. The home Mustangs had at least one runner reach base in each of the first three innings, including a bases-loaded situation in the second, but couldn't score against Davis County pitcher Cami Guiter.

That trend ended in the fourth when PCM sent 13 batters to the plate and scored seven runs. Gilson's grand slam over the center-field fence came in the midst of nine straight PCM hitters reaching base and broke a 2-all tie.

"I was getting really nervous. I was getting really anxious. I wanted to throw up when we were down and [when I] hit it out, I kind of felt a little more reassured then," Gilson said. "It was a lot bigger than any other hit I think I've ever had.

"Being down was terrible. I was scared. I know we usually pull it through at the end, but I was kind of hoping we'd be more consistent throughout the game. It wasn't fun being down. We were all really nervous."

PCM took full advantage of Davis County's faltering pitching as the game progressed. After Guiter issued only two walks in the first three innings, four Davis County pitchers combined to give up 14 walks from the fourth inning on. Nine of those batters who reached base on a free pass scored.

PCM totalled six hits, and three of those came off the bat of Gilson. She finished the game with eight RBI after adding a pair of two-RBI singles in the fifth and sixth innings.

She explained after the game she had a feeling something special was going to happen when she stepped into the batter's box in the fourth inning.

"I knew it was my last time playing at this field and I knew if I wasn't going to do it then, then I might never do it, and I just got the feeling I was going to hit a grand slam and I did," Gilson said. "I got in the dugout and everyone was like, 'We knew you were going to do that. We knew you would hit it over.' It was pretty thrilling."