Catawba Ridge’s Janelle Ilacqua puts the ball in play during the Copperheads game against Fort Mill Monday night.

There wasn’t exploding lights, but Catawba Ridge’s Janelle Ilacqua had a Roy Hobbs moment hitting a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to beat Fort Mill Monday night.

Ilacqua’s home run gave the Copperheads softball team a 7-4 win as they rallied from down 3-0 against Fort Mill to tie the game before going into extra innings. The win puts Catawba Ridge at 5-0 overall.

“Battling like that and coming back tells these girls they aren’t ever out of it,” said Catawba Ridge head coach Michael Kidd. “It shows a lot of grit.”

Catawba Ridge struggled at the plate early as they didn’t get a hit until the fourth inning while Fort Mill pitcher Maddie Drerup cruised through the first five innings. Drerup got help offensively as Fort Mill scored in the top of the first on a hit by Trinity Wall and a sacrifice fly from Emma Tisdale. Fort Mill added two more runs in the fourth inning on a home run by Trista Reid to give the Jackets a 3-0 lead.

However, that lead quickly evaporated in the sixth inning as Catawba Ridge woke from their slumber offensively and scored four runs on three hits and two Fort Mill errors. Ilacqua led off the inning with a single and then was driven in by a single from Audrey Wilson. Braylon Lawrence reached on an error and Sara Rocheleau drove in Wilson on a sacrifice fly. Lawrence would then score on a fielder’s choice from Kendra Murray to give the Copperheads a 4-3 lead.

Despite Catawba Ridge riding a big wave of momentum, the Jackets quickly silenced the Copperheads as they tied the game in the top of the seventh on another home run from Reid making it 4-4. Reid went 2-4 for the Jackets with three RBI in the game.

Neither team seemed to be able to get the upper hand in the extra innings before a Fort Mill error allowed a second Copperheads base runner with the team already starting the inning with a runner on second base due to softball rules. That led to Ilacqua coming to the plate and bouncing one off the scoreboard in left center.

The loss drops Fort Mill to 0-2 on the season and head coach Chuck Stegall said it is just a matter of time for them to have things come together.

“We still got kids struggling with the bat and kids struggling in the field,” he said. “It will come around. We just got to believe in each other.”

Ilacqua and Jenna Garner each went 2-4 in the game with Ilacqua driving in three runs. Catawba Ridge travels to York Tuesday to open Region 3-4A play, while Fort Mill next plays Wednesday at home against Lancaster.

In other games…

The Catawba Ridge baseball team improved to 5-2 on the season with a 10-6 win over South Pointe to open their Region 3-4A schedule. Harrison Wilson led the Copperheads with a three-run home run as he went 2-4 in the game.

The Catawba Ridge girls’ lacrosse team improved to 3-3 on the season with a 15-3 win over Blythewood.

The Nation Ford boys’ lacrosse team improved to 7-0 on the season with a 14-8 win over Ardrey Kell at home Monday night.

The Fort Mill boys’ golf team shot a 316 on day one of the Bengal Invitational at the Columbia Country Club to sit in eighth out of 29 teams on day one of the two-day tournament.

Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep

Fort Mill’s Trista Reid gets congratulated by her teammates after hitting the first of two home runs against Catawba Ridge Monday night.