WMU eliminated in loss to HTC

WEST POINT — On Friday night, Winfield softball needed a win over Holy Trinity Catholic to stay alive in the Class 1A Region 8 first round bracket.

For the Wolves, it didn’t go as planned as their postseason was upended with a 9-5 loss to the Crusaders.

The Wolves had no problem with the bats in the first round contest, tallying 11 hits total, but Holy Trinity thwarted a handful of WMU’s scoring opportunities.

Winfield trailed Holy Trinity just 1-0 after one inning of play.

WMU turned around in the second and scored one of its own with a Melina Oepping single followed by a Aurey Meeker RBI to tied it 1-1.

The Wolves continued to show their poise throughout the game, but Holy Trinity continually applied pressure and a few WMU miscues were costly.

In the bottom of the inning, Holy Trinity took a one run advantage once again off an error that put the lead off batter on second. Two batters later, a sacrifice RBI gave the Crusaders the run they needed to make it 2-1.

Winfield stayed right in the rear view, as Anna Anderson crushed an RBI double bringing Josie Nelson home and tying the game 2-2 after the top of the third.

Everything changed in the bottom of the third. After six HTC batters stepped up to the plate, the Wolves went from tied to down 6-2.

“We had a couple miscues in the outfield, ” WMU head coach Scott McCarty said. “Those always come back to haunt you. We had that one inning where two or three mistakes hurt us and they just snowballed.”

The Crusaders tallied just three hits in the inning, which included an single, an two RBI triple and an RBI double. An error and past ball by the Wolves also led to the damage.

WMU cut into the lead once again in the top of the fourth as Oepping scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-3.

Holy Trinity had an answer once again as every inch gained by the Winfield was taken back.

In the bottom of the fourth, a triple and single put the Crusaders back up by four, 7-3.

The closest WMU would come came in the top of the fifth.

After an out to start the inning, Winfield hit three straight singles followed by a wild pitch to make it 7-4. Pacey Schlee then tallied an RBI single to make it a two run ballgame 7-5.

“The girls competed their tails off,” McCarty said. “We got runners in scoring position, but we just could get them across.”

Winfield wouldn’t score again.

HTC capped off the victory with two more runs between the fifth and sixth innings.

The Wolves put two runners on base in the seventh, but they couldn't bring them home.

Josie Nelson led the Wolves, going 3-4 with a double and a pair of runs scored. Melina Oepping went 2-2 with a two doubles and two runs.

Makiah Lower took the loss from the circle giving up nine runs on 10 hits, one walk and three strikeouts.

Winfield ends its season with a 7-10 overall record and a 7-9 conference record.