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Falconer rallies in seventh to knock out Westfield

OBSERVER Photo by Jon Sitler Westfield’s Haleigh Dellow delivers to the plate during Tuesday’s Section VI Class C semifinal against Falconer at Ernie Strickland Field in Falconer.

FALCONER — Falconer was calm, cool, and collected a walk-off win, 4-3 over Westfield, on Tuesday in the Section VI Class C softball semifinals.

The Golden Falcons overcame a 3-0 deficit, and scored two runs on four straight hits to win in the bottom of the seventh inning.

On a team with five seniors, junior Tess Spangenburg’s one-out RBI single tied the game at 3-3, and junior Emily Melquist walked it off.

Westfield — without a senior on the roster — was two outs from slaying the top-seeded Falcons. Sophomore starting pitcher Haleigh Dellow had pitched a gem for the Wolverines (12-3), striking out seven and allowing just four hits through six innings.

Dellow started the bottom of the seventh with a first-pitch groundout before Falconer senior Macy Youngberg’s two-strike base hit up the middle. Her twin sister, senior Nicole Youngberg, hit a hard shot to deep short, and Macy barely beat the slide to second to avoid a forceout. Spangenburg followed with an RBI base hit to left, and Melquist a game-winning hit to score Nicole Youngberg.

“I just stayed focused and prayed that I could hit the ball,” said Melquist. “It was an amazing feeling. I was very nervous going into that inning, but I got up to bat, I prayed, and I ripped the ball.”

The walk-off win means a date with Portville in the championship game on Thursday afternoon at Falconer High School.

“It’s been my biggest goal with them that, whether they’re up, they’re down, whether the odds are stacked against them or for them, it doesn’t matter; they play their game no matter what,” said Falconer coach Sadie Stuart, whose Falcons are 13-2 and winners of eight in a row.

“And they are really believing in that now,” Stuart added. “This is probably the most energized team we’ve been up against … and it still didn’t rattle them competing against that type of energy. I’m super proud of them for staying themselves through a full seven innings.”

Five Golden Falcons will graduate later Thursday, but they aren’t ready for the season to be over.

“I knew that we could do it; we all have a lot of heart, and we all wanted this pretty bad so I knew we could come through,” said junior Ashton Beckerink.

Just like Monday against Randolph, Kayla Lynn started for Falconer and threw two scoreless innings. Beckerink gunned down a potential base stealer to end the first, and Lynn struck out two straight to strand the bases loaded in the second.

But the Wolverines we’re having good at-bats, and four straight hits to start the third by Dellow, Sydney Hotchkiss, Tanleigh Bestine, and Casey Black proved that. Black’s single to left with the bases loaded gave Westfield a 1-0 lead. Brynn Ernewein’s bases-loaded walk made it 2-0, and Keara Kincaid’s sac fly to deep center made it 3-0 in the third.

Beckerink relieved Lynn in the fourth and threw three quick scoreless innings. With Nicole Youngberg now moving behind the plate, she threw out a would-be base stealer as well.

While Beckerink put out the fire, Falconer got something cooking.

Dellow had retired 10 straight into the fourth before a harmless hit by pitch put Melquist on with two outs. Beckerink followed with a walk and senior Courtnee Peterson ripped an RBI single up the middle that got past the center fielder to allow a second run to score.

Dellow calmed back down, stranding two runners in each of the fifth and sixth innings. When she was missing, she wasn’t missing by much.

With one junior, two sophomores, and the rest freshmen or younger in the lineup, Westfield looked sharp.

“We’re definitely excited,” said Westfield coach Shawn Gnadzinski. “The girls all seem to get along. They support one another, and that was kind of our motto going in, to set a culture where if someone was down, go give them a hug, give them what they need to… pick them up. I think that, by doing that, they all just fell in love with each other. I’m just looking forward to the future, but sad for the kids today because they’ve worked their tails off, and they did play great today. That is a great team over there that they lost to, so nothing but respect for them, too.”

In the top of the fifth, Falconer senior Ashley Pierce made a phenomenal diving play down the left-field line, but Westfield’s Black tagged from first all the way to third on a heads-up play. Beckerink forced a pop up to end the inning.

Falconer really had to keep its cool in the top of the seventh. Beckerink struck out her second batter of the inning, but the pitch in the dirt got by Youngberg to allow Hotchkiss to reach. Bestine and Black followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases for the third time in the game. Third baseman Lynn fired a groundball to catcher Youngberg for the force and the second out.

With two outs, a pitch got away from Youngberg, but Falconer got the Westfield runner in a rundown, and Lynn fired again to Youngberg for the bang-bang tag play at the plate.

“With it being so close, and with so many opportunities on both sides, I told them it comes down to heart,” said Stuart. “You can’t control the umpire, you can’t control the pitcher, you can’t control the other team, but you can control what you do. So rely on that.”

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