First, Emilee Dishman came to the rescue by putting on the catcher’s equipment in an emergency situation against Montour (Pennsylvania). Then the junior gave Davie’s varsity softball team a breathtaking 7-6 win with a walk-off hit to cap a four-run uprising in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Indeed, it was an unforgettable performance for the utility player.

“She’s been working really hard,” assistant coach Morgan Wyatt said. “She’s been a good teammate and doing whatever we ask her to do. And she came through.”

“I am so proud of Emilee because she is the ultimate team player,” coach Dawn Lowery said.

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In the first of three games last week, the War Eagles had an effortless 15-0, four-inning win at Mt. Tabor on March 20.

Bridgett Tierney (4-4, double), Sierra Ferguson (4-4, three RBIs, homer), Makenzie Smith (3-4), K’lea Parks (3-3, five RBIs, homer), Jessie Beck (3-4, double) and Sydney Wyatt (2-2) helped Davie pound out 21 hits. Olivia Boger and River Simpson split time in the circle and combined on a one-hitter as Davie dispatched Tabor the 30th consecutive time.

While Ferguson launched her fourth home run, Parks went deep for the first time this season, giving Davie 11 home runs from six different players.

Davie (4-1 Central Piedmont Conference) remained one game behind North Davidson (5-0).

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Two days later, Davie blew past Glenn 9-1 in a nonconference game. Davie got two hits from Anna Devereaux (2-4, two doubles), Ferguson (2-2, three RBIs, homer) and Parks (2-4). Boger pitched a complete-game three-hitter, the only run being unearned.

Ferguson added to her season-long offensive prowess, homering for the fifth time in nine games and bumping her average to .666 (18 for 27). At this point, she was leading the team in runs (16), hits (18), homers, RBIs (19) and was tied for first in walks/HBPs (eight). Oh, and there’s this: Ferguson is second in single-season homers. Wyatt hit a record nine in 2009. Ferguson and Katelyn Webb each hit four in 2016. Wyatt owns the career HR record with 13 from 2007-10. Ferguson is second with nine.

The other War Eagle hitting over .500 through March 22 was Tierney, who stood at .586 (17 for 29).

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The War Eagles moved to 8-2 overall for the best start in 11 years (the last time they were 8-2 was in 2006), but they had to work for it. The Montour Spartans, who traveled 400-plus miles from McKees Rocks, Pa., to play several games against area teams last week, had Davie on the ropes before losing 7-6 on March 23.

Although Davie leads the series 4-0, it needed seventh-inning lightning for the second year in a row. Last year the War Eagles trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, and they scored twice in the seventh to win 6-5. Ferguson produced the tiebreaking, walk-off hit in that one.

“They get better every year they come down here,” Lowery said. “We had to fight back the entire game. I was very proud of our resiliency and our fight.”

The Spartans seized a 2-0 lead in the third on a two-run homer to right-center. Davie got one run back in the fourth when Beck’s single plated Desiree Lewis. But Montour put up three runs on four hits in the fifth, making it 5-1.

In the fifth, S. Wyatt led off with a triple, a deep drive sailing over the right fielder. Wyatt slid into third safely.

“The wind was blowing in a little bit, so it kind of died on her,” Lowery said.

Wyatt scored on Tierney’s ground out, cutting Davie’s deficit to 5-2. In the sixth, Tierney’s two-out single drove in Beck, who had reached with a walk. Montour, though, answered with a run in the top of the seventh, and Davie was facing a 6-3 deficit going into its last at-bat.

“We wanted to finish the game strong,” Lowery said. “The last time that Montour came down, we won in the bottom of the seventh. We knew it was possible. The whole time we felt like we were going to win the game.”

Lo and behold, Davie won the game without making an out in the bottom of the seventh. Smith got things started with a walk.

“I said if Makenzie gets on, we’re going to win because I knew they were going to intentionally walk Sierra or they were going to slip up and she was going to get a hit,” Lowery said.

Ferguson doubled off the fence in her first at-bat. Montour didn’t take any more chances, intentionally walking the cleanup batter her next three at-bats, including the seventh inning when there wasn’t a base open.

“I guess they had heard about her,” Lowery said. “I didn’t think they would (walk her with Smith on first), but they did. She’s just that big of a threat.”

Lewis drew a walk that was unintentional. With the bases full, Parks delivered a golden two-run single to left. Now Davie was within 6-5. Beck hit a well-struck ball between short and third. After bobbling the ball, the shortstop tried – unsuccessfully – to get Lewis at third.

“Their shortstop is legit, but Desiree is fast as lightning,” Lowery said.

With Parks on second and Lewis on third, Dishman stole the spotlight, punching a single between first and second, knocking in two and giving Davie the walk-off win. What a time to deliver her first two RBIs of the season. The hit lifted the Dishman’s average to .368 (7-19).

“Emilee can soft slap or hard slap or hit,” Lowery said. “She can do all three. I said I need you to hit it hard, and she hit it to the right side.”

The game-winning hit did not tell the whole Dishman story. Catcher Sydney Hendren had to leave the game with an arm injury, “and I don’t have a backup catcher,” Lowery said.

Even though Dishman had never caught for Davie and hadn’t caught in a game in nearly two years, she found some gear in the equipment room and strapped it on like a true gamer.

“Emilee has done some bullpen stuff for us, but not anything with gear on,” Lowery said. “She’ll warm up River sometimes, just being a team player. She said: ‘I’ve got it.’ She did a great job. For someone who hadn’t been behind the plate in a game situation (for Davie), she stepped up for us defensively and offensively, and I can’t ask for anything more of her.”

Boger left the circle after 4 1/3 innings. First, she was struck in the shin by a batted ball. A few innings later, the girl who homered for Montour hit a shot off her face mask. Lowery turned to Simpson, who made her sixth relief appearance and earned her first varsity win.

“River came in and did a great job,” Lowery said.

Notes: Tierney (2-4, two RBIs) and Wyatt (2-3, triple) led Davie’s eight-hit offense. … Ready for these robust numbers? Ferguson is hitting .678 (19-28) with an 18-game hitting streak. Tierney is hitting .575 (19-33) with a 10-game hitting streak.