Highland in 14

WINFIELD — It took four days and 14 innings, but in the end, the Highland Huskies stood tall.

Highland won a breathtaking Class 1A Region 8 semifinal 1-0 on Monday to knock out No. 15 Winfield-Mount Union and earn a berth in Tuesday night’s final, where they will play for a state tournament berth.

A game that began on Friday night and was suspended in the sixth inning didn’t see a run until the top of the 14th. With nobody out, Highland freshman Sarah Burton dashed home on a wild pitch, eluding WMU catcher Anna Anderson’s tag by inches to reach home plate.

“You could physically see my heart,” said Highland head coach Carrie Wieland, “It's just such a rush.”

Burton led off the 14th with a bunt single, and advanced all the way to third on a two-base throwing error, which rolled in to right field.

“I looked over at Coach and she was like, 'get here, get here, get here,’” Burton said.

The Huskies looked in position to score one more, putting another runner on third with nobody out, but Winfield-Mount Union ace Madie Anderson scrambled out of the jam and it was 1-0 Huskies to the bottom of the 14th.

With one out in the bottom of the 14th and facing a full count, Anna Anderson sent a dribbler past second base to put a WMU runner on with a single. Two batters later, Jobey Malone sent a rocket to the left field fence.

WMU head coach Walt Jackson remembers watching it fly.

“'Go over, go over, go over,” Jackson recalled.

But it didn’t go over. Malone’s rocket clanged off the side of the fence, and the Highland defense got the ball back in as runners reached second and third.

Molly Miller hit a hard grounder to third on the next at bat, but Highland first baseman Payton Brun fielded it and stepped on first for the final out.

“Those highs and lows,” Jackson said. “That's why we played sports, isn't it?”

It was the third time WMU saw a runner reach third base. Melina Oepping reached third one inning prior on a double and a wild pitch, both with nobody out, but Highland pitcher Grace Batcheller escaped the jam. Seven innings before that, the Wolves had a runner on in the sixth.

Monday night’s action began with a WMU runner on third and one out. Highland’s Jessica Kraus, who came in to relieve Batcheller in the sixth inning on Friday before a weather delay, got out of the inning with no damage.

“I was talking to the girls a lot (over the weekend),” Kraus said. “Coach was just like, ‘don’t worry about it.’”

Before being lifted for Batcheller in the 13th, Kraus didn’t give up a single hit. She threw almost seven full innings, going 6 2/3 in relief.

“I just knew they could do it,” said Wieland. “Once we got out of that sixth inning, I knew it was going to be a good game.”

Highland (22-6) will now look to go one step further in the postseason journey, and the next step is the biggest of them all. The Huskies will travel to play at No. 4 Lisbon (34-8) in the regional final.

For WMU, it was a bitter end to a 17-6 season, and also the end of the high school career of Madie Anderson, who pitched in every single WMU softball win since her eighth-grade year and eclipsed 1,000 career strikeouts in her storied career.

“She's been a constant professional,” Jackson said. “She just brought a lot of pride and a lot of recognition back to the program.”

Highland’s regional final at Lisbon on Tuesday is set to begin at 7 p.m.