Clarkdale’s Nikki Boutwell, left, congratulates courtesy runner Mary Ashley Culpepper after she scores a run for the Lady Bulldogs Tuesday night against Enterprise(Brookhaven).

Clarkdale’s only lead of the game came when Kayla Reed scored from third on a wild pitch.

It was the only lead that mattered.

With the aid of some small ball, Reed reached third base with the Lady Bulldogs tied 2-2 against Enterprise-Lincoln in the bottom of the seventh. Once the pitch sailed past the Lady Yellowjackets’ catcher, Reed burst toward home plate, determined to give her team the walkout win.

“We gotta score so we can win,” Reed recalled thinking as she made her way home.

She beat the throw, giving Clarkdale a 3-2 win in Game 1 of a best-of-three set against Enterprise-Lincoln in the second round of the MHSAA Class 2A postseason.

“That’s a huge win,” Lady Bulldogs head coach Emily Howard said. “To see these kids fight the way that they have, to just keep pushing when we feel like we can’t go anymore… Within the last week, I’ve seen them fight harder than anybody I’ve ever had in my life, and I’m so proud of them.”

Reed led off the bottom of the seventh with an infield single, then she immediately took off for second on the next pitch. She made it, allowing Maggie Meadows to sacrifice bunt her over to third, setting up the winning run.

“I was trying to be aggressive so we could get into scoring position,” Reed said.

Howard said Reed’s base running was every bit as big as beating the throw to first when she hit the infield single to lead off the inning.

“We were going to play a little small ball there,” Howard explained. “She has very good speed on the bases, and she’s smart on the bases, and she made a great call right there right when she needed to.”

Howard also made a point to praise Meadows for the bunt that moved Reed over to third.

“Maggie does a great job getting the ball down,” Howard said. “She’s very dependable. When we need some small ball and she’s up, she’s going to get the job done.”

The Lady Bulldogs trailed 1-0 after two innings when Enterprise-Lincoln’s Morgan Smith got an RBI groundout in the top of the second inning. The Lady Yellowjackets made it 2-0 in the top of the sixth when a single by Jana Nations drove in Abby Richardson.

In the bottom of the sixth, however, Clarkdale began its comeback bid. After a Nikki Boutwell double, Aubree McWilliams hit an RBI single into shallow right field to score Boutwell for the Lady Bulldogs’ first run of the game. McWilliams managed to plate the run despite some frustrations during the at-bat, as she initially thought she had driven Boutwell in with a double to left before finding out the umpire ruled the ball foul.

“She’s very mentally tough,” Howard said of McWilliams. “She’s able to get in there and see the ball well, and she made sure she got a good pitch. When she saw it, she got good contact and got a hit.”

Clarkdale’s second run came the same inning when courtesy runner Mary Ashley Culpepper scored on a passed ball to tie it at 2-2.

Makayla Roberts got the win for Clarkdale, going all seven innings and giving up two runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Her performance allowed Clarkdale to stay in the game long enough for the bats to come alive, and Howard gave her junior pitcher a lot of credit for the win.

“Makayla did a very good job of hitting her spots,” Howard said. “She did exactly what I needed her to do when the whole team needed her to do it. She’s been solid out here on the mound for us and is leading us pretty good right now.”

McWilliams was a perfect 2-for-2 with a walk and a double at the plate, and Reed finished the game 2-for-3. 

The Lady Bulldogs (16-11) will travel to Enterprise-Lincoln for a 5 p.m. Game 2 Thursday. Game 3, if necessary, will follow immediately.