After taking game one of the series against East Union to start the third round of the playoffs, the East Webster Lady Wolverines needed just one game out of two at home to move on to the North State championship.
Unfortunately, EWHS couldn’t find a way to finish it out.
The Lady Urchines won two close ball games in Cumberland bringing a strong season to a close for the Lady Wolverines. The season ended with a Class 2A, Region 2 championship, a third-round finish and a 24-7 record overall in Clayton Dodd’s first season as head coach.
The Lady Wolverines had a great comeback to take a hard-fought road win to open the series. After the Lady Urchines scored seven runs in the second inning to take a commanding 7-1 lead, EWHS came back with six runs in the third and three in the fourth to take an 11-8 victory.
Liz Massey came back from giving up those seven runs in the second to surrender just one more the rest of the ball game, and the bats heated up. The Lady Wolverines pounded out 14 hits with two hits each coming from the top four in the lineup in Keely Jo McKnight, Peyton Flora, Katelee Box and Emma Jennings. Senior Whitney Winter had a 3-for-4 night at the bottom of the lineup as well and Hallie Beth Reed had two RBI.
Box, Reed and Winter finished with doubles in the game as well.
On Saturday, the bats quieted down a bit for the Lady Wolverines. They got behind again 4-0 before tying the game at 4 in the third inning. East Union scored three in the fourth and that’s all they would need from there in a 7-4 victory.
The Lady Wolverines would finally get an early lead in game three when they took a 3-1 advantage. But it was a four-run fourth that would prove to be killer for EWHS. One run in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings wasn’t enough for EWHS as the season came to an end during a 8-6 ballgame.
Abby Williams finished 3-for-4 with two RBI on a double and a home run in the final game of the season. McKnight and Whitney Winter went2-for-4 with an RBI each.
On the year, junior short stop Flora led the team with a.423 batting average and was tied for the team lead with 41 hits while also having four doubles, one triple and 19 RBI. Box batted .408 with 40 hits, eight doubles, five triples and three home runs. McKnight batted .406 tied with Flora with 41 hits at the top. Emma Jennings led the squad with four home runs and 40RBI and batted .333.
Junior pitcher Liz Massey has become a veteran in the circle and will return for one more season next year. The Holmes Community College commitment threw 168.1 of the 178.1 innings this season. She had a 2.54 ERA with144 strikeouts and 41 walks.
The lone senior on the team was Winter and she finished her final year on campus with a .300 average, 24 hits, four doubles and 18 RBI.
