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Paige Hayward, a junior outfielder ranked #38 in the 2023 Extra Elite 100, showed why she’s so highly respected when she made not one, but TWO home run-saving catches over the fence in the Michelle Carew Classic high school tournament held at the end of March into early April.
Leaping over the fence twice in the 7th inning to keep runs off the board, the South Torrance (Calif.) High standout helped her team defeat Yucaipa High 14-4 in the prestigious event which was won by host team Canyon of Anaheim.
The game was against Yucaipa on Thursday night, March 21, to see who advanced to the Gold Bracket. South Torrance was winning 4-1 going into the 7th before scoring 10 runs that inning.
Leading 14-1 going into the bottom half, though, Yucaipa rallied as the number 8 hitter lead off the inning and popped out to first. The number 9 hitter doubled and the leadoff hitter singled and a run scored. The No. 2 hitter hit the first ball which Paige caught making it two outs. The three hitter homered (Paige dove over the fence but couldn’t get that one), making it 14-4 with two outs. Then, the clean-up hitter hit a ball that look destined to be a home run but Paige made the final out over the fence… again!
Offensively, Paige was 1-for-3 in the game with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. She hit .400 in the tournament with a .538 OBP and had three RBIs and scored twice.
As of last week, Paige–who plays club ball for the BSC Bengals – Briggs team and has verballed to George Washington University–was hitting 356 with three home runs and was second on the team in RBIs with 22.
Here’s the clip of the great catches and it’s fun to see her teammates reactions when they realize Paige twice laid out for the outs!