Wasilla girls win in 8th

PALMER — Palmer's softball team has been going through tough times.

"We haven't won a game all year," Coach Valerie Rozzi said.

Then, on Tuesday night, things seemed to be taking a turn for the better. That was until Wasilla started coming back from a three-run deficit. It was the fifth inning. The Moose were up by three. The score was 4-1. The girls were hyped. They were smiling.

It didn't matter there was still a bit of snow on the field. It didn't matter that what wasn't snow was mud. It didn't matter it was dr#xizzling, and cold, and players on the bench were wrapped in blankets.

What mattered was there were only two more innings to go, and the Moose were winning.

That was when Wasilla's Hilary Wetzler started it all. She hit a double over the right fielder's head, and scored soon after on a wild throw. z

And Wasilla kept coming, scoring three more runs that inning.

The Palmer girls answered with three more of their own, but Wasilla did too, and before anyone knew it, it was the bottom of the seventh and the score was tied 7-7.

Actually, no one did know it. Wasilla thought the game was over. They thought they had won. Palmer's score sheet read the game was tied.

The teams had to compare notes. The decision — the game would go into extra innings.

In the bottom of the eighth with one out and a runner on third, Palmer changed pitchers.

But Christine Lein's first pitch was hit, and hit well, by Wasilla's Shelby Sonnentag. Then Warrior Tiffany Livingston hit a long ball that dropped between left and center to drive in Sonnentag for the win.

"That's the way to come back and win a ball game," Wasilla coach Sue Allen said.

So the Moose remained without a win.

On an adjacent field Colony battled Bartlett. It was tied 2-2 for several innings. Then, by the bottom of the seventh, it was 3-3.

But in the eighth, Bartlett's 10-3 record improved to 11-3, when Stephanie Hotch drove in the game winner with a ground out.

Still, Colony's Chelsea Pitta batted 1,000 that evening, and Knight's pitcher Candice Stewart struck out 11 batters.

Colony coach Mike Stewart said the team had gotten off to a bad start. "We thought maybe we were turning it around tonight," he said.

But no such luck. Maybe next time.

Next time, however, may not be enough. All the valley's teams sport losing records. They must win 50 percent of their games to qualify for the state trournament in Anchorage next weekend.

Because of last week's snow storm teams are playing double headers through Saturday; the last day of qualification.

Wasilla must win all they're remaining games to make it.