By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
EAST KENTWOOD – One pitch was the difference Tuesday afternoon for the Niles softball team.
The top-ranked Lady Vikings were just one pitch away from advancing to the Division 2 state semifinals against Wyoming Park.
Unfortunately, that pitch ended a double by Emily Holt, who was down 0-2 when she sent the next offering into the right-center field gap.
An inning later, Wyoming Rogers squeezed home a run to upset Niles 7-6 in eight innings.
"You got to give them credit," Niles coach Gary Collins said. "They made the plays they needed to make. They're the best team we've played all year and we've played some really good ones. They just keep putting the pressure on. We couldn't strike them out. That's the least amount of strikeouts she has had in two years."
Niles took an early 2-0 lead, but found itself down 4-2 after five innings of play.
The Lady Vikings rallied for two runs in the sixth to knot the score at 4-4 and took a 5-4 lead in the top of the seventh on RBI by Nicole Ignowski on a fielder's choice play.
Wyoming Rogers showed its character in the bottom of the seventh when it tied the game on Holt's clutch hit.
"Rise-ball that didn't get up on 0-2," Collins answered about the pitch Holt hit. "That's the ball game."
Actually, it wasn't.
Niles' Nellie Coquillard hit a solo home run in the top half of the eighth inning to put the Lady Vikings up 6-5.
Again, Wyoming Rogers rose to the occasion.
Morgan Greenfield was hit by a pitch to open up the eighth inning and moved to third on a single by Caila Ferro, which got past left fielder Erica Gordon.
With runners at second and third and no outs, Nicole Chappell bunted to score Greenfield with the tying run. A pair of Ignowski strikeouts had Niles on the verge of getting out of the jam and forcing another inning, but Brooke Cain, the Golden Hawks' No. 9 hitter, had other ideas.
Cain laid down the bunt, which went between Jenna Ignowski and Nicole Ignowski untouched to score the winning run.
The Lady Vikings grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning when right fielder Heather Daniels hit a two-run home run.
Wyoming Rogers answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the third by pitcher Kelsey Bandstra.
The Golden Hawks then scored three times in the fifth inning to take a two-run lead. All of the runs were unearned.
An error on a bunt and a bunt single put runners on for Wyoming Park in the fifth. Two outs later, Anna Thomas laid down a bunt between Jenna Ignowski and third baseman Shelley Aurand tied the game at 2-2.
Holt's two-run double down the left field line put the Golden Hawks up 4-2.
"In their big (three-run third inning), they got on with two bunts down the first base line, so we tried to take that away from them. They made a great bunt (in the eighth inning) and put it right in the hole," Collins said of Wyoming Park's short game.
Niles (35-3) tied the game up in the sixth inning when Karly Kennedy hit a ball to third base, which Kendra Hentschel was too late getting to the bag for the force out. One out later, Coquillard singled home the tying run.
The Golden Eagles finished the game with 10 hits, while Jenna Ignowski struck out 11.
Four of Wyoming Park's seven runs were earned, more than the Lady Vikings had given up the entire season.
Niles finished with nine hits, including two home runs and a double by Aurand.
Niles 020 002 11 – 6 9 2
Wyoming 001 030 12 – 7 10 1
WP – Kelsey Bandstra (WR, 25-2) and Emily Holt
LP – Jenna Ignowski (N, 34-3) and Maggie Ernsberger
2B: Shelley Aurand (N), Morgan Greenfield (WR), Holt (WR)
HR: Heather Daniels (N), Nellie Coquillard (N), Bandstra (WR)
Records
Niles 35-3, Wyoming Rogers (34-5)