Sports
Down 8-0, Wayzata Rallies for Section Tourney Win
Wayzata pulls even at eight, then loads the bases and beats host Richfield in the sixth inning on a run-scoring single by Meg DuPuis
Host Richfield built an 8-0 lead after the first two innings only to see Wayzata come all the way back, and then add one more, in a wild girls Section 6AAA fastpitch tournament game Thursday.
Wayzata (16-6) scored a 9-8 win to advance in the championship bracket.
"All year long this team has believed in one another," said Wayzata head coach Amber Hegland. "They wanted to be successful individually more for the person standing or playing next to them or behind them in the lineup. When they understand that they're just a small portion of the cog then great things happen and they do great things."
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Wayzata loaded the bases with none out in the sixth inning to set the table for Meg DuPuis to drive in the game-winner with a single. Richfield shut down the rally after that, but it was too late.
Richfield had two on and two out in the sixth, but couldn’t score, and then went down quietly in the seventh inning.
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"We hit the ball and scored runs, which is what we needed to do," said Wayzata pitcher Jessica Williams. "And then we held them on the defensive side of the game. ... It was just amazing how we came back."
Wazyata got big RBIs from DuPuis and Steph Kirk in the third and fourth innings and then a huge two-run shot from Janie Beeninga in the sixth.
Down 8-0 after two, the Trojans figured they had nothing to lose.
"You just have to give it all youve got because you're down by so much at that point there's nithing else you can do," said senior infielder Bri Adams. "I think the inning that we scored our first three runs proved to us that we were still in this game. That just showed us that we were going to come out and win it."
The Wayzata Trojans are scheduled to play Lake Conference rival Hopkins (19-2) today in a game starting at 5 p.m. Hopkins edged Wayzata twice in two close games during the regular season, winning 5-4 and 10-8.
Richfield (11-8) will meet Orono (16-6), an 8-3 loser to Hopkins, in the losers bracket today at 5 p.m. in the double elimination tournament at Richfield Middle School.
