Softball: Emma Highland’s extra-inning single pushes WFC past Marquette

RURAL STREATOR – The sixth inning of Thursday’s Tri-County Conference series finale at Woodland’s Windy Confines ended with Woodland/Flanagan-Cornell’s Emma Highland walking off disappointed. A spectacular play in the hole by Marquette Academy shortstop Maisie Lyons robbed WFC’s No. 2 hitter of a go-ahead single.

The eighth inning – and the game – ended with a much happier walk-off for Highland.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning of a tie ballgame, Highland went with an outside pitch from Marquette ace Kaylee Killelea and delivered a soft line drive into right field, scoring Ella Derossett with the winning run in WFC’s 7-6, extra-inning victory over the Crusaders.

“I was just thinking I had to stay concentrated and try my hardest and not be scared, because I can be really scared when I go up,” Highland said. “Our coaches last night at practice were putting [pitches] on the outside so we could hit them next time, and I was ready for it.

“I was glad I got it. I never get those [outside pitches], but I got it for my team and got it for myself.”

The win lifts the Warriors to 16-5 overall and 7-2 in the TCC. Marquette dropped to 9-7 and 6-2. The two and Seneca (14-4, 8-1) – a team Marquette split with and WFC lost its first meeting against with another to come May 11 – make up the Tri-County triumvirate in the hunt for the conference crown.

“That was fun, wasn’t it?” asked WFC coach Jordan Farris. “Today it was just about, No. 1, playing clean. We’ve got to play clean, and it was cleaner than Tuesday[’s loss to Marquette], but we also hit more today, going with the outside pitch and being aggressive on the bases.

“Those were the keys to our success today.”

Like Highland’s game-winner at the end, most of the runs earlier in the day scored against Marquette’s Killelea (loss, 7 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 7 K), WFC starter Cheyenne Burns (no-decision, 5 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 6 BB, 5 K) and Warriors reliever Shae Simons (win, 3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 K) came about as the result of the offenses making the most of an opportunity.

A bobbled grounder allowed WFC to strike first, scoring four unearned runs in the bottom of the third – a Burns sacrifice fly and Cloee Johnston two-run, seeing-eye single the big blows. Marquette countered with six unearned runs in the fifth, set up by a Warriors error – Lindsey Kaufmann, Izzy Garkey and Abbey Thumm delivering clutch RBI hits.

The hosts tied it 6-6 in the sixth. Johnston’s swinging-bunt single was followed by a Kortney Harms RBI double to right-center, a Derossett base hit and Olivia Chismarick’s RBI fielder’s choice scoring sliding pinch runner Trinity Crego before Lyons’ aforementioned robbery of Highland ended the threat with the game still even.

Marquette had something cooking in the seventh and eighth innings, but Simons pitched her way out of both jams, setting up Highland’s baes-loaded, two-out heroics in the bottom of the eighth after singles from Jena Easton, Derossett and Chismarick set the table.

“Woodland, they played great today, and we had a bad inning. That’s just how it goes,” Crusaders coach Brad Oakes said. “We hit it, but they fielded a lot of stuff that we hit. ... I think [Killelea] probably pitched well enough to win the game, but that happens. Every good pitcher knows that is what it is.

“It was a good game, and [WFC] did a nice job.”

Eva McCallum provided two hits for Marquette, while WFC received two-hit performances from Highland, Johnston, Derossett and Chismarick on a day the Warriors’ Nos. 1, 3 and 4 hitters were held hitless while the rest of the lineup was 10 for 22 (.454) against the lefty Killelea.