Philadelphia’s Nia Luckett throws a pitch to the plate.

PHILADELPHIA — Soggy field conditions at Burnside Park this week forced Philadelphia and East Webster to shelve Thursday’s game until Friday, so the Lady Tornadoes players used the extra day to fine-tune their approach before their decisive Game 3.

After Thursday’s practice, however, Philadelphia players and coach Jordan Flake huddled for a team meeting and planned a course of action to use against the team that defeated them by one run just a day earlier.

Thursday’s meeting was the catalyst for a thunderous Lady Tornadoes’ performance as Philadelphia earned an 11-1, run-ruled win against East Webster in the decisive Game 3 Friday to advance to the third round of the MHSAA Class 2A playoffs. The Lady Tornadoes await the winner of the East Union-Calhoun City series.

Flake recalled the team’s meeting.

“We just sat down, we had a discussion, me and the 10 girls that stayed with varsity,” Flake said. “I asked them what I could do differently, and we kind of did some of the things they suggested, and we just really had a heart-to-heart.”

Philadelphia (16-5) batters rattled off 15 hits, while Lady Tornadoes pitcher Nia Luckett baffled East Webster hitters with a two-hit performance. Luckett, who needed just 68 pitchers to earn the win, struck out four, walked one and didn’t surrender any earned runs.

Philadelphia’s resiliency when faced with elimination, Luckett said, is impressive.

“It means a lot, because we could have easily just laid down, but we gave our all today,” Luckett said. “We hit well and played good defense.”

Tyesha Cole accumulated a team-high four RBIs to go along with two runs. Cole finished the evening 3-for-4 at the plate, and she went airborne from her spot on third base in the top of the sixth inning to pull in an East Webster line drive and end the frame. All three of Cole’s hits were doubles.

“We (knew) we had to hit win,” Cole said. “(Wednesday’s) defense was horrible, (but) we came back today and we played awesome defense, and we all hit. I don’t think there were any strikeouts. I love these girls, and I wouldn’t trade them anything in the world for them.”

Ndrah Tanksley was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, and Kamryn Moore went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Marsha Hunt had two hits and two RBIs in three plate appearances, while Luckett ended the contest 2-for-3 with three runs. 

East Webster took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after a Philadelphia error, but the Lady Tornadoes stormed back in the bottom of the frame. Cole doubled in Luckett and later scored on a wild pitch, and Tanksley scored Hunt with an RBI double to give Philadelphia a 3-1 lead at the end of the first inning.

In the bottom of the second, Cole plated Makayla Evans and Luckett with a two-RBI double. Kamryn Moore knocked in Hunt with a triple in the bottom of the fifth, and Tanksley hit an RBI double that scored Shania Moore and gave the Lady Tornadoes a 7-1 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Cole plated Zharia Jordan with an RBI double, Hunt singled in Luckett and Cole and Shania Moore added an RBI groundout that sent Hunt home for Philadelphia’s 11th run.

“We came today completely focused,” Flake said. “We’ve seen this pitcher twice already, so we were really able to focus on what it is she does. I don’t know; I think it’s just the mentality of the girls waking up today. Wednesday we were off routine. Things got thrown around — didn’t know times. Today was a set routine, and we knew if we went back to doing it the way we’ve always done it (we’d win). I’m just proud of these girls for coming back and doing what they do.”