The Waupaca softball team overcame a 2-0 deficit May 16 and opened WIAA state tournament play with a 4-3 win over Omro in a Division 2 regional quarterfinal.
The teams entered the seventh inning tied at 3-3, but the Comets broke the tie on Lindsay Reach’s base hit that scored Jessie Borntrager.
Omro broke a scoreless tie with in the top of the third on Jessie Hogan’s two-run single. The Comets cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning, as Borntrager tripled and scored on Mandy Tomlinson’s single.
The Comets tacked on two more runs in the fifth, as Borntrager singled, Tomlinson was hit by a pitch and Reach and Brenna Olesen added RBI singles.
Omro tied the game in the top of the sixth on Alexis Mokler’s RBI single that scored Lauren Fischer. The Foxes also loaded the bases with nobody out on the top of the seventh, but couldn’t add to their lead.
The Comets went into the bottom of the seventh down 3-2. The first two batters, Borntrager and Tomlinson, reached to set the plate for Reach, who drove in Borntrager to end the game.
“They ended up with the bases loaded with nobody out in the seventh,” coach Kevin Guyant said. “Clutch pitching from Emerie (Vasquez) and some defense helped us get out of there.”
Waupaca scattered eight hits during the game, but couldn’t get the timely hit until late in the game.
We finally got that hitting in the bottom of the seventh,” Guyant said. “It was a tough battle, a good game. We just didn’t get the hits when we really wanted to. There’s always a way and we’ve done it before this year, down six runs in the seventh inning.”
Guyant hopes the win gives the Comets confidence for its second-round matchup against second-seeded Adams-Friendship. The Green Devils hosted Waupaca May 21 in a regional semifinal.
“Adams is a very, very good team,” he said. “I know their pitcher, Emma Roenneburg, is a tall, dominant pitcher, so that will be a factor, whether we can get some runners on base and move them around or if she’s going to shut us down. That will be the difference in the game.”