Plano East players surround sophomore Julia Wilson after she recorded the walk-off hit against Hebron. The Lady Panthers earned their first playoff win since 2017. Photo by Tina Lopez / C&S Media

By Seth Dowdle

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MCKINNEY – Thanks to some seventh inning heroics by Julia Wilson, the Plano East Lady Panthers beat Hebron 6-5 in a Class 6A Division I bi-district win-or-go-home game last Friday from Frisco Emerson High School as they earned their first playoff win since 2017.

“It was a fight until the very end of the game,” Plano East head coach Lauren Peterson said. “My kids played great defensively and started making adjustments at the plate and came up big when it mattered most.”

Jadyn Dawson got the start on the mound for Plano East, and things didn’t look great out of the gate. Two first-inning home runs by Hebron awarded the Lady Hawks a 3-0 lead after the first half inning. But Dawson settled down for the next couple innings, which allowed her team to claw its way back into the game.

In the second, Wilson launched a solo homer to left field to bring the score to 3-1. In the next frame, Dawson helped her own cause with a mammoth two-run shot to tie the score. 

Unfortunately for the Lady Panthers, Dawson couldn’t get the shutdown inning in the top of the fourth. After walking the leadoff hitter but getting the next two batters out, back-to-back doubles plated two runs for Hebron, letting the Lady Hawks take a 5-3 lead.

That advantage held until the final half inning in which Plano East mounted its furious comeback. 

With one out in the inning and nobody on base, Avery Hopper was hit by a pitch on the hand and took first base. That was until Hebron head coach Chelsea Herndon protested, and after the umpires convened, the call was overturned to a foul ball. Peterson disagreed and conferred with the home plate umpire, which drove him to overturn the call again, with the original hit by pitch call upheld.

“There was a similar situation in the top of the first inning that went against us but wasn’t overturned and remained a hit-by-pitch,” Peterson said. “So, I just asked the umpire what changed his call and reminded him of the almost identical play in the first inning that was deemed a dead ball.

“My kids fight so hard each and every day for each other, that I couldn’t go down without fighting for them.”

That runner ended up being key for Plano East, as the next batter, Chloe Lee, reached on a fielder’s choice, bringing up Gina Martin. Martin laced the first pitch she saw into the gap in left field, scoring both runs to tie the game at five while she scampered into third for a triple. 

With Dawson coming up, Hebron wanted no part of her, intentionally walking her to bring up Wilson. 

That strategy didn’t work, as Wilson looped a single into right field, scoring Martin and ending the game. Plano East had won, 6-5.

The win was special for so many reasons for Plano East. It was Plano East softball’s first playoff win in eight years – the last time the Lady Panthers won a playoff game was in 2017 against Keller in the regional semifinal round. It was also Peterson’s first postseason victory at Plano East. 

Plano East (24-9) is on a seven-game winning streak dating back to the beginning of April. In fact, the team is unbeaten in the month of April as it heads into its area round matchup with South Grand Prairie. 

“We are ready to keep this train going,” Peterson said. “My kids are so confident and are having so much fun playing together right now. It is truly one of the coolest moments of my life.”