Trojans Stunned In Section 6AAA Softball Final

Five outs from claiming Wayzata's first berth in the state softball tournament since 1980, the Trojans fell prey to a mighty Hopkins rally that swept the Trojans out of the postseason after back-to-back losses in the championship round of the Section 6AAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

Wayzata looked every bit the part of an impending section champion through five innings, claiming a 2-0 lead after putting runners on base in every frame against the team that it had beaten 10-1 in the winner's bracket final on Monday.

However, Hopkins rallied to score three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to suddenly take the lead and the victory after the Trojans went down without incident in the seventh inning to lose 3-2.

It had all been going so well for Wayzata, as Kaycie Palesch scored the game's opening run on a wild pickoff throw at third base to put the Trojans up 1-0 in the third inning.

With Wayzata pitcher Jessica Williams out-dueling Morgan Nybo of Hopkins, the Trojans took their one-run advantage into the fifth inning where they appeared poised to seize control of the contest after loading the bases with no outs.

After Williams popped up to second base for the frame's first out, Meg DuPuis' single brought home Steph Kirk to give Wayzata a 2-0 edge.

However, in a base-running gaffe that would prove critical to the championship fates of the two teams, Hopkins caught Kaycie Palesch and Kelsey Kleist in respective run-downs between third base and home plate and then second base and third to turn a jaw-dropping double play.

Instead of the promise of addind to its lead with two runners in scoring position with one out, the Trojans had run themselves out of the inning—the turn would haunt Wayzata for the remainder of the afternoon.

Hopkins would go on to win Game 1 and took a prompt 3-0 lead in Game 2, with Nybo becoming stronger as the day wore on against a Wayzata squad that appeared to lose the moxie it displayed through the first 90 minutes of Game 1.

The Royals ran their lead to 8-0 by the top of the fourth inning before DuPuis scored Wayzata's opening tally of the second game on a wild pitch in the bottom of the stanza to make the score 8-1.

Hopkins added one more tally in the fifth and the count stood at 9-1 until Bre Adams stepped on home plate with what would be Wayzata's final tally of the spring in the bottom of the seventh. 

Adams' run brought the count to 9-2, where it would remain; Steph Kirk recorded the Trojans' last hit of the season with a two-out single before Palesch grounded out to second base to end the game.

Two hours after nearly clinching the section title, Wayzata wore the red ribbons of a second-place finish as they watched Hopkins raise the championship plaque that was so close to being theirs.

The Trojans closed out the 2011 season with a 17-8 record and took second place in the Lake Conference with an 8-5 circuit mark.