SEE THIS WEEK'S INDEX FOR LOTS OF PHOTOS OF THE REGION TOURNEY
The West Liberty High School softball team will continue their season in Fort Dodge after marching their way through the Region 8 bracket with three straight victories including a nail-biting 4-3 walk-off win over a 15th ranked David County team.
The Comets of coach Chad Libby claimed a 10-1 win last Tuesday, July 6, over Mid-Prairie thanks to the bat of Finley Hall who put two over the fence before the home towners came back on Friday to take a 6-2 win over Knoxville, paced by a Kyle Struck home run to get into the championship game with the Bloomfield team, getting a Pearson Hall walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 3-3 tie.
The win punched West Liberty’s ticket to the eight-team state tournament that begins Monday, although the Comets won’t play until mid-day Tuesday.
The Comets wasted no time jumping ahead in their first round matchup Tuesday night, July 6, cashing in two runs in the first inning thanks to a two-run homer by Finley Hall.
The Comets added four more in the third, capped by a three-run blast by the sophomore catcher after sister Pearson and Sailor got on base thanks to a bunt and an infield hit.
The Golden Hawks pushed across their lone run in the fourth inning that was immediately answered in the bottom half of the frame. The Comets added three more runs in the fifth, taking the 10-1 victory.
Junior Sailor Hall fanned seven on six hits for the Comets in the circle. Finley Hall led the Comets at the plate, getting five RBI on the night off the two home runs.
The Comets hosted Knoxville Friday night. With the threat of rain coming, the 7 p.m. start was pushed two hours earlier.
The Comets wasted no time securing a lead, jumping ahead 2-0 after the opening frame. Knoxville answered in the top of the second, recording a lone run. The Comets clung to their 2-1 advantage until the fourth when they added an insurance run. Knoxville immediately answered in the fifth.
Kylie Struck would fire the final shot in the bottom of the fifth, blasting a two run home run to give the Comets a 6-2 advantage just before the rain delay that turned into a rain cancelation and the Comets emerged 6-2 Victors in their semi final matchup.
Thanks to an upset on the other side of the bracket, the Comets hosted Davis County, 2-1 winners over top-seeded West Burlington, Monday with a trip to state on the line.
The teams battled through four and a half innings of scoreless softball before senior Isabel Morrison was able to break through. Eighth grade talent Sophie Buysee ran for Morrison and would score on a single by sophomore Rylee Goodale to give the Comets the first run of the game.
The Comets scored two when Finley Hall's fifth inning double drove in her sister Sailor before Janey Gingerich his a single to drive in the second run and a 3-1 lead.
Davis County answered back in the top of the sixth, pushing across one of their own to knot the score but the Comets reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth, pushing across two more runs, now leading 3-1. Davis County wasn’t going to go down without a fight, however, adding two more runs in top of the seventh to tie the game again.
The Comets were going to have to earn it in the bottom of the seventh. Rylee Goodale had a lead off single for the Comets in the bottom of the seventh and advanced to second base following a perfectly laid sacrifice bunt from eight grader Ady Bell.
Eight grade talent Pearson Hall then came in to play hero, smacking the first pitch to the gap, driving in Goodale for the walkoff 4-3 victory for the Comets.
Veteran coach Chad Libby said the play of the younger members on the team was the key to victory, especially complimenting the bunt by Bell, who had the first and third basemen closing in on what they knew was going to be a sacrifice. “She handled it tremendously,” Libby said of the pressure situation. “That was probably the most important sacrifice bunt of the season. She did her job.”
Pearson Hall then came through with the game winning hit to score Goodale, who got a key single to lead off the inning as the eighth batter in the line-up.
“I’m very proud of the way the girls fought all season,” Libby said. “Having Ady lay down a great bunt in that situation and having Pearson come through with the hit. It tells me there plenty of youth and plenty of success down the road.”
The coach gave a lot of credit to Davis County for coming back to tie the game in the seventh, but said his team tried to do too much instead of going for the simple out, attempting a double play that didn’t work out.
“that was just nerves popping up,” he said, noting his team’s “youth and nerves showed up in the seventh inning.”
The coach said he had “confidence” his team could get a run across in the bottom of the frame however after the Mustangs came back to tie the game.
In the games leading to the championship, the coach complimented his team’s defense that allowed only three runs and said the offense went wild, scoring 15 including three home runs and other hits off the outfield fences.
He said the home run by Struck in the second game against Knoxville was key, giving the Comets a four run lead just before the rain delay in the bottom of the fifth inning. Libby thought the home run convinced Knoxville they weren’t going to get back into that game.