After having to sit for longer than originally scheduled Saturday, the Fatima Comets came out a little sluggish in the fifth-place baseball game of the Capital City Baseball Invitational.
But once the Comets got rolling, the Hickman Kewpies had no chance.
The Comets spotted the Kewpies a 4-0 lead, then came roaring back to capture a 9-4 win at Vivion Field.
Three-run innings in their final three trips to the plate proved to be just what the doctor ordered for Fatima.
"Hickman is a good club and they jumped out on us," Fatima coach Scott Kilgore said. "But I was proud of my ball team for responding to that. It took us a couple innings, but hitting is contagious and that's a good win."
After playing at 9 a.m. to start the day's action, the Comets were scheduled to play again at 2 p.m. But with Eureka leaving the event early because of prom, the schedule got adjusted and Fatima had to sit for another round of games before finally playing again at 4:30 p.m.
It seemed to hamper the Comets early on, as Hickman picked up three runs in the top of the first inning thanks to two hits, two Fatima errors on fly balls and one walk.
The defensive woes were something that popped up a few times in the Invitational.
"I told the guys, "Monday at practice, (assistant) coach (Dustin) Hays and I are going to leave with blisters on our hands, because we're going to hit as many shallow fly balls as we can. He's going to take one side and I'm going to take the other,'" Kilgore said with a smile.
The Kewpies added another run in the top of the fourth on two hits and two walks, but the Comets finally started to mount a comeback in the bottom of that frame.
Jared Schulte led off with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Will Robertson. Another wild pitch sent Robertson to second, and after an infield single by Zach Hudspeth, Robertson scored on a single by Matt Temmen.
Hudspeth later moved to third on a sacrifice by Sam Hager and scored when Alex Dickneite reached on a fielder's choice, cutting Hickman's lead to 4-3.
The Comets then effectively won the game in their next at-bat. Schulte drew a one-out walk and went to second on yet another wild pitch by Hickman. A single by Robertson sent Schulte to third and chased the Hickman starter from the game.
On the very first pitch by the Kewpies' reliever, Hudspeth had a checked-swing, excuse-me base hit that dropped in behind the Hickman first baseman to score Schulte to make it 4-all.
"When things are going good, things like that happen," Kilgore said. "It's definitely happened against us, so it's nice to be on the flip side of that."
Robertson went to third on the play, putting runners at the corners. When Hudspeth took off for second on a delayed double steal, the Hickman catcher threw the ball into the outfield, allowing Robertson to trot home.
"I think that was kind of a pivotal point," Kilgore said. "Once we got the momentum, I was proud because we held it."
Hudspeth went all the way to third on the play and later scored on an infield single by Hager, making it 6-4.
The Comets got their final three runs in the sixth, with Hudspeth smacking an RBI double, Temmen rapping an RBI single and the final run coming home on a Hickman error.
Hudspeth and Temmen had three hits and two RBI apiece, while Hager and Robertson had two hits and one RBI. Schulte chipped in with two hits.
Robertson got the win in relief of Hager, who pitched the first four innings and gave up four runs (one earned) on eight hits and three walks. Robertson allowed just one hit in three innings and walked two while striking out two.
"For Sam, this was his second outing this week," Kilgore said. "He threw Tuesday night against Battle, threw five strong innings and had 88, 89 pitches. Along with playing right field in those seven games, he was gassed.
"Will came in and did a good job. Once he found the strike zone and got dialed in, he was tough."
The Comets (7-3) started Saturday with a 5-3 loss to Eureka. Hunter Hennier and Schulte had two hits apiece, Hudspeth had one hit and one RBI and Brady Weavers had a double. Logan Vogel started and took the loss.
"Going 2-2 in this tournament is a good weekend, I'm pleased with that," Kilgore said. "We've got a light week next week, which is good, because (the Hickman game) was game seven for us this week. We need some rest time.
"We're at Eugene on Tuesday and then we host Blair Oaks on Thursday, so it's not necessarily a light week in terms of competition, but in the number of games."