Lady Panthers outlast Boone Grove, 9-7, behind full team effort
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Photos by Adam Hartsough
It has been more than a decade since Western Softball has seen this much success. The Class 3A second-ranked Lady Panthers improved to 26-2 with a victory over Valparaiso’s Boone Grove Wolves, 9-7, on May 28. The win brought Western its fifth Regional title in softball, and the first since 2011.
Western advances to the IHSAA Semi-State, where they will face Norwell (18-7) on Sat., June 1, at Twin Lakes High School in Monticello. The Lady Panthers have the early game at 11 a.m., and if victorious, they would play in the title game at 7 p.m. against the winner of the second semifinal -- Leo (26-5) vs. New Prairie (22-6).
The regional championship, however, was a showcase for Western’s power at the plate and on the mound. Brynley Erb opened the scoring for the Lady Panthers with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. Kylie Miller added a solo shot in the sixth. But there was plenty of scoring in between those two blasts.
Western plated a run in the second on an RBI single from Rylynn Gibbs, and Chloe Linn drove in a run in the third with two on base. A second run tallied that inning when Erb scored on a fielder’s choice from the bat of Lexi Dollens.
The Lady Panthers took an inning off from the scoring deluge, but returned in the fifth with three runs, thanks to back-to-back triples from Linn and Sienna Stone, who scored on a wild pitch after reaching third safely. Miller’s homer in the sixth completed the scoring from Western.
As it turned out, Western needed most of those runs to survive a tenacious effort from Boone Grove. The Wolves were mostly held off the scoreboard until later in the contest, managing just one run in the first five innings.
Linn was largely unhittable until the sixth when her control abandoned her. Three runs scored on a passed ball and two wild pitches. Lucy George was called in to put out the fire and did so with a strike out.
George returned to the mound for the final frame with a 9-4 lead and surrendered a three-run home run with just one out. However, she regained her composure and struck out the next two batters to seal the win.
Erb led Western at the plate with three hits, including a double and a homer, to go with three runs scored and two RBIs. Miller homered. Chloe Hunt had a double. Stone tripled, as did Linn. The win went to Linn, with George picking up the save.