Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Late rally gains split for VFW softball
The Tomah VFW girls softball squad was three outs away from getting swept.
Six runs in the top of the fifth inning prevented a doubleheader loss.
Tomah erased a 6-2 deficit and then held on in the bottom of the fifth to defeat Melrose-Mindoro, 8-7, in the second game of an 18-and-under doubleheader at Gerke Field.
Melrose-Mindoro won the first game, 4-2.
Tomah’s record moved to 6-2. The loss in the first game snapped a three-game winning streak.
Five walks, two wild pitches and a catcher interference call generated four runs to tie the nightcap at 6-6. Kendra Bundy then got the first hit of the inning -- a flyball that sailed over the leftfielder’s head -- to give Tomah the lead at 7-6. Barbara Kmetz then followed with an RBI groundout for an 8-6 lead.
That second run was critical. The first three Melrose-Mindoro batters reached base in the bottom of the fifth, but Tomah pitcher Lindsey Betthauser induced a foul popup on a 3-2 pitch to end the game.
Emilee Burkhalter and Maggie Ruedy scored on wild pitches to give Tomah a 2-0 lead in the first, but Melrose-Mindoro sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning to score four runs. Melrose-Mindoro scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to seize a four-run lead.
Betthauser was the winning pitcher. She didn’t strike out anyone but relied on her infield for eight groundball outs.
In the opener, Tomah pitcher Ali Van Havermaet struck out five of the first eight batters she faced, but Melrose-Mindoro broke through with one run in the third and two in the fourth.
Tomah took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Burkhalter struck out, but the catcher dropped the third strike, and Burkhalter beat the throw to first base. Van Havermaet followed with an opposite field double that scored Burkhalter.
Tomah didn’t score again until the fifth. Bundy blasted a triple and scored on Brooke Von Haden’s single, but a groundout and strikeout ended the game.
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.