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Highland softball season ends on walk-off hit by Wapello star
WAPELLO — For six innings on Wednesday night, it looked like the Highland softball team finally had Wapello’s number again. By the end of the Class 1A Region 8 final, the Huskies were watching the Arrows celebrate a walk-off win.
After falling twice to the Arrows already this season, Highland controlled the majority of the game, but in the end, the Huskies fell victim to a walk-off, two-run single off the bat of Wapello star Tatum Wolford, which won the game, 3-2, for the Arrows and ended Highland’s 2023 softball season.
“It's just a hard loss,” said Highland head coach Carrie Wieland. “I just wish they could have done it. They're just a great group of kids.”
The Huskies entered the seventh inning with a 2-0 lead, thanks to a strong start in the circle by Jessica Kraus and clutch relief appearance from Grace Prybil, who came in to relieve Kraus in the bottom of the fifth, escaping a two-on, two-out jam to keep the Arrows scoreless.
Wapello loaded the bases on a walk and a couple of hard hit balls that were both stopped in the infield, and that both would have given Highland three outs had the ball bounced differently.
One ball was a hard grounder to second, which was stopped by second baseman Lilly Barre, but just trickled far enough away to turn into an infield single. The other was a rocket up the middle which was knocked down by Prybil, but dribbled far enough away from the pitcher’s circle to earn another infield hit.
Wapello had the bases loaded down 2-0 when eighth-grader Mya Wagner walked in the first run. That brought up junior Tatum Wolford, who is hitting a red-hot .626 on the season.
“We thought about walking her, and that would have tied it,” Wieland said. “But it is what it is.”
Wolford sent a hard ground ball into right field, scoring two runs.
Earlier in the game, it was Highland senior Katelyn Waters who stepped up to give the Huskies an early boost. Waters got on with a hit-by-pitch in the top of the third, advanced on a bunt single by Sarah Burton, and dashed around third base to score from second on a sacrifice bunt by Barre to make it 1-0.
Then, in the top of the fifth, Waters burned the Arrows once more. This time scoring teammate Madison Beason on an RBI single to center field.
“Katelyn is a gamer in everything she does,” Wieland said. “She hates to lose.”
The 2-0 lead stuck until the seventh inning, but Highland had a few chances to add on to its lead, including in the top of the seventh when the Huskies put two runners in scoring position with one out, but failed to bring either run home.
“We did not score enough runs,” Wieland said. “We had people on base almost every inning, and we didn't score.”
The Huskies finished the season 18-11. Wednesday night marked the end of the high school careers of Waters, Kraus, MyLei Smith and Abi Stransky.
“All four of them really put a spotlight on our team,” Wieland said. “Without them, we wouldn't be near where we are.”
Wapello (22-9) moves on to play at No. 8 Sigourney (24-4) on Friday night in the regional semifinals.
