Gloucester High School junior Vayda Pino came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning Thursday with a .167 batting average and three extra-base hits - all doubles - this season.
She had never hit a varsity home run in her career.
But Gloucester coach Megan Mason insisted Pino was due to show off her power stroke - and the junior did so in the biggest spot of the season and her career.
Pino launched a titanic two-out, two-run homer to dead center field for the first long ball of her career to send Gloucester to a come-from-behind 4-2 win over Haddon Heights.
"We've known it since the preseason," said Mason. "She didn't get many at-bats last year but she came in the pre-season crushing the ball. The season started and she went into a pretty big slump, but she hits five out at practice every day.
"We keep asking her 'When are we going to see that in a game?' and she probably got so tired of hearing it, she said she'll do it. Her face said 'I'm getting this hit, and we're going home.'"
Pino felt she was close to a big breakout hit as she had been making solid contact on foul balls throughout the game, including a long one. She finally straightened one out.
"I haven't hit the ball in so many games," said Pino, who was hitless in her last three games and on Thursday until connecting in the eighth. "But my foul balls (in the game) were really hard-hit, and then I knew there was an opportunity. I knew it was right there and I had to hit the ball. I haven't hit the ball as good in high school as I usually do in travel ball, but finally I hit the ball. Huge (win)."
Pino's moment would never have happened if not for Ava Rodgers, who came to the plate with the Lions trailing 2-1 and down to their last out in the seventh.
Rodgers closed her eyes and connected for a two-out RBI double that scored Bailey Schoenfeldt, who singled with one out and stole second base.
"I told myself I wasn't going to not hit the ball," said Rodgers. "I just closed my eyes and swung. I felt it hit the bat, then I prayed, then I opened (my eyes) and started running."
Rodgers admitted she usually hits the ball with her eyes open. Asked why she closed her eyes this time, she laughed and said "I don't know."
The comeback combined with Audubon's 7-0 win over haddon Township Thursday gave the Lions the Colonial Conference Liberty Division title - which they didn't win last year even when they were Group 2 state champions.
The victory could have also nudged the Lions past Haddon Heights and into the top spot in the South Jersey Group 2 power point rankings with the cutoff for postseason play looming on Saturday.
"We didn't talk anything about any of that," said Mason. "We don't like to hear all the implications, don't want to make it bigger than it is. Just show up and play your best and keep improving every single game, and to win a game like this is big this time of year."
Haddon Heights had some rare shaky moments in the field. The Garnets committed two fourth-inning errors and three overall with the Lions scoring an unearned run - while an inability to finish what would have been an inning-ending double play allowed Pino to come to the plate in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Gloucester was kicking itself for its failure to capitalize on early changes. The first four batters reached base but the Lions failed to score in the first.
In the fourth, Gloucester loaded the bases with one out but didn't push across the go-ahead run.
"We just have to gain the confidence we had last year," said Rodgers. "This year we don't have the confidence we usually do. (Today) boosts it."
Haddon Heights' Kayla Kellog delivered a two-out RBI hit in the second and the Garnets scored a run in the fifth on a fielder's choice to take a 2-1 lead. It seemed like it was going to be enough for Sarah Cooley, who pitched around some of the defensive mistakes, allowing just four hits through the first six innings.
The teams are mirror images - gritty, clutch, well-coached and fundamentally sound.
It's possible - maybe even likely - these teams will meet again in the sectional final for the second straight year and as evenly matched as they are, it could come down to another unassuming star.
Bill Evans can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him at @bybillevans.