The West Fork softball team gave the top seed everything they could handle, but Van Meter walked off with a 5-4 win in Wednesday’s 2A semifinal, as aired on 104.9 KLMJ.
The Warhawks gained an advantage with two runs in the first inning on RBIs by Libby Trewin and Brooke Rother, but Van Meter answered. The Bulldogs scored one each in the first and second innings, but a two-run homer gave them a 4-2 lead in the third. In the next half-inning, West Fork’s Brylee Dickman hit a two-run homer to tie the game at 4-4, which remained the score for the next two innings. Trewin struck out the side in the sixth to give the Warhawks a chance to take the lead in the seventh, but they went down in order. Before the first out of the bottom of the seventh was recorded, Van Meter’s Ava Hohenadel delivered the game-winning RBI to send the Bulldogs to their third consecutive championship game.
“Honestly, hard to be upset about it, but also hard to play that hard and work that hard to not get the outcome that they wanted,” West Fork coach Sadie Winfrey says. “We really don’t have anything to lose. We came in here last year and played their super good team, but honestly, they showed us last year. So we came into it with, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. And I really couldn’t be more proud of their performance and how they did and how they stayed in it. Down 4-2 didn’t really stop them from staying motivated and playing their best.”
Abby Schoning, Trewin, Rother and Brylee Dickman recorded the team’s four hits. Trewin delivered six strikeouts and one walk. West Fork will take on #2-seed Louisa-Muscatine in Friday’s 2A third place game at 3:30 p.m. on 104.9 KLMJ.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5jHpcDFGko?si=HcTAuED-t8CU3rWT&w=560&h=315]
