The Fastpitch Chronicle

Westosha Central avoided an upset at the hands of a young Elkhorn team by scoring 3 runs in the top of the 7th inning to defeat the Elks 3-2 and sweep a double header in Elkhorn. The Falcons won the first game 10-3. Trailing 2-0, Sarai Roberts hit a one out triple. She scored on a fielder's choice by Olivia Klean. With two out, Olivia Kazumura hit a hard ground ball that deflected off the Elkhorn 2B and bounded for the outfield. Klean was able to score on the play, tying the game. In the confusion, Kazumura took second. Four pitches later, another Elkhorn miscue on a Kira Mickelson grounder allowed Kazumura to score the eventual winning run. In the bottom of the inning, Kazumura retired the side in order to secure the win. The Elks took the lead in the game on very first batter with a home run by Hunter. They increased their lead in the 3rd. With two out Rachel Gosh walked. She moved to 2B on a passed ball and scored on a single by Salamone. But Kazumura limited them from there. She held them to five hits and two walks whiled striking out 8. "Olivia did a great job of keeping us in it until we could score. In terms of the win, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Elkhorn really had us in a tough situation. But the girls kept their composure and were able to pull it out in the end." (co-head coach Tom Lampe) In the opener the Falcons used a 14 hit attack to score 10 runs in their 10-3 victory. Alyssa Hrncar earned the win, allowing all three runs on 8 hits while striking out 13 Elks. "Alyssa had to adjust today and did a great job of keeping their line up off balance." (co-head coach Tom Lampe) The Falcons scored twice in the 1st inning. With one out Olivia Klean singled and reached 2nd on the throw. She scored on a single by Kira Mickelson. In the 2nd the Falcons added two more. Kendall Krumm led off with a double and scored when Sarai Roberts hit her 2nd home run of the year to left field. Westosha opened up the game with four more runs in the 4th. Kayla Kerkman led off with a single and reached 2nd on a error on a batted ball by Olivia Kazumura. Mickelson plated Kerkman with a double and Carrie Weis plated both Kazumura and Mickelson with a single to left. The Falcons added two more in the 5th inning when a single by Kazumura scored Roberts and Kerkman. Elkhorn closed the gap to 8-3 on a two run home run by Rachel Gosh in the 4th inning. "We played a pretty good game. We got the lead early and we were able to control the game for the most part throughout." (co-head coach Tom Lampe) With the wins the Falcons improved to 11-1 overall and 9-0 in the Southern Lakes Conference. They return to action this Thursday when they host Burlington in Paddock Lake at 4:30.