LAGRANGE - Whitko threatened to pull off the upset, but the Wawasee Lady Warriors softball team didn't let it happen Monday.
Following a full-count, three-run dinger to center field off the bat of Whitko junior Jenna Gross, the Lady Wildcats (6-14) had a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth. However, Wawasee (13-12) scored four runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh, pulling off the 8-5 win in the opening game of Class 3A Sectional 20 at Lakeland High School.Wawasee will face NorthWood in the first semifinal game Thursday at 5 p.m.
"They didn't give up," Wawasee coach Cory Schutz said about his team. "They kept their confidence. We can hit the ball all through the lineup, and they stayed in there and waited for the pitches they could drive."
The turning point of the game came in the top of the sixth, when Wawasee had runners at first and third with two outs.
With senior Crystal DeLaFuente at the plate, she laid down a slap-bunt, which the Whitko third baseman scooped up and tried to throw the speedy runner out at first. By the time the ball got to first, DeLaFuente was already safe by a few feet, but the throw did allow freshman Kylie Norris to score from third, cutting the Whitko lead to 4-3.
From there, the two-out rally continued as sophomore Gabi Routson hit an RBI-double, junior Ashley Truman hit an RBI-double and junior Shelby Newhard hit an RBI-single following a walk to junior Mattia Rostochak, upping the lead to 6-4.
"They starting getting the momentum, hitting the gaps and we couldn't come back from that," Whitko coach Jamilyn PeGan said.
Whitko had trouble getting back into the game, because Routson made things difficult from inside the circle.
Pitching all seven innings, Routson surrendered just three hits and struck out six.
"She did a nice job," Schutz said of Routson. "She was right around the plate all game long."
Whitko sophomore pitcher Karissa Olinske started well, giving up just six hits before the disastrous sixth, but could never find a way to get Truman out.
On the day, Truman went 3 for 3, hitting three doubles, driving in two runs and scoring another herself.
"That was more indicative of what we've seen from her all season long," Schutz said. "She'd been a little off lately, not making the contact, but she got back to swinging from the top of her feet and not from her heels. She had some nice, good contact."
On top of pitching a nice game, Routson also helped out on offense, going 3 for 5, driving in three runs and hitting a double.
Despite the loss, PeGan was optimistic with the future based on her team's competitiveness.
"We'll be playing some instructional league this summer to go and build off of this," he said. "It kind of took us a while this season to kind of build a family and build a community. Tonight, I saw them working toward a common goal."
Wawasee will look to build on its momentum too, taking on a NorthWood team it defeated 23-0 on April 23 and 13-3 on May 10.
"Hopefully we have the intensity we had the first time we saw them," Schutz said. "We didn't have that intensity the second time we played them, and we got off to a slow start.
"We just need to play our game and we'll be okay," he added.
WAWASEE 8, WHITKO 5
Wa 110 004 2 - 8 13 1
Wh 010 031 0 - 5 3 0
Gabi Routson (W, 7IP, 3R, 2ER, 3H, 6K, 1BB, 1HR) and Jonna Wiggs; Karissa Olinske (L, 7IP, 8R, 8ER, 13H, 4K, 5BB) and Audra Day
