Late game errors cost WACO in regional softball opener

Four errors with one out in the bottom of the seventh opened the door for a Maranda Baker walk-off single to keep Pekin?s season alive.

WACO?s two-run lead entering the final frame quickly evaporated as defensive miscues helped put five straight Panthers on base which resulted in a rally with a 6-5 victory to open Class 1A regional play.

?We were better than them except for about four plays the entire game,? said WACO head coach Shannon Rugg. ?There were just a few routine plays that we have to make.?

?We were lucky,? said Pekin head coach Bryan Marlay. ?They made a couple mistakes to give us a chance. No ifs, ands, or buts ? we got lucky.?

The win pushes Pekin (17-14) into the second round of the regional tournament where it will meet sixth-ranked North Mahaska, which advanced with a 13-1 win over English Valleys Wednesday.

The late collapse abruptly ended WACO?s season with a 9-18 mark.

Clinging to a 5-3 lead heading to the seventh, the Warriors got one out before pressure built and the wheels started falling off. Pekin?s Leslie Stone reached on a misplayed ground ball, Jessi Martin legged out an infield single with no one covering first base before a throwing error advanced runners. Panther Cheyann Lankford was on board after a dropped pop up and teammate Dominique Tolle hit a bases-loaded grounder down the first-baseline that made it to the outfield and brought the tying run home.

With runners on first and third, Baker lined a single up the middle and Lankford stepped on home plate to give Pekin the final advantage.

?It may be one we kind of stole, but it?s good to get a victory,? said Marlay, whose team had lost a season-worst five straight games entering Wednesday.

The last game the Panthers won was an easy 11-4 contest over the same WACO team eight days earlier. But that win sent Pekin into a funk that stretched all the way to Wednesday?s seventh inning.

?Hopefully this will get us over the hump a little bit,? Marlay said. ?We?ve really been struggling since that last win, almost like we flipped a switch.?

WACO managed just two hits in that 11-4 loss a week ago, but appeared to have things turned around and certainly had a regional-tournament victory in sight.

?The girls finally realized they had nothing to lose and started getting better,? Rugg said. ?It was just a matter of time before it started to come together, and things had started clicking a little bit.?

Rosemary Skriver touched home to break a 3-3 tie in the top of the fifth, and Sarah Reitz drove in Angela Davis one batter later to put the Warriors up 5-3.

Pekin scored its first three runs all on one play in the bottom of the third. With two runners on board, Dominique Tolle floated a single into the outfield to score Jessi Martin, and as the ball bounced around behind the plate, Lankford came home and Tolle completed a round trip around the bases.

The play featured two of the Panthers? five unearned runs in the game and put them ahead 3-2. Tolle finished the game 2-4 with two RBI.

WACO tied the game in the next inning as Chelsea Rugg took two bases on wild pitches.

Stone was in the pitcher?s circle for the Panthers and kept the deficit at two runs in the top of the sixth. With a runner on third and nobody out, Stone struck out the next two batters and forced an inning-ending groundout to keep the score at 5-3.

The sophomore walked five and gave up three earned runs on eight hits across seven innings.

Davis pitched well for WACO as she allowed just one earned run on seven hits and walked one. Devin Geir and Kayla Conwell each had two hits to lead the Warriors at the plate.

Pekin?s second-round matchup will be at New Sharon with the first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday.

BOX SCORE

PEKIN 6, WACO 5

WACO ? 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 ? 5 8 5

Pekin ?  0 0 3 0 0 0 3 ? 6 7 2

WACO ? Dugger 0-4; K. Conwell 2-4, R; Sutton 1-3, BB, 2B, R; Davis 0-4, RBI, R; Reitz 1-3, RBI; Geir 2-3, BB; Rugg 1-4, R; Vradenberg 1-3; S. Conwell 3BB; Skriver R

Pitching ? Davis (L) 6.1 INN, 7H, BB, 5K, ER

PEKIN ? Martin 1-3, BB, HP, 2R; Lankford 0-3, BB, 2R; Tolle 2-4, 2RBI, R; Baker 1-4, RBI; Davis 0-3; Jensen 1-3; Spilman 0-3; Johnson 1-3; Stone 1-3, R

Pitching ? Stone (W) 7 INN, 8H, 5BB, 5K, 3ER