Norwalk falls in sectional slugfest

TIFFIN — Norwalk was there, ready to knock the wall down.The Truckers had Tiffin Columbian on the ropes and down to its final strike.But, the Tornadoes tied the game in the seventh inning and finished off Norwalk in the eighth, 16-15, in a Division II sectional semifinal on Tuesday."That came down to a lot of different plays and a lot of different moments," Norwalk coach Julie Schmidt said.The Truckers fell to 8-12 and face Vermilion on Wednesday to wrap up the season. Norwalk started the season 0-7, but had played considerably better lately."What I am really happy about is that our team was down 9-3 and we battled back to make it a game," Schmidt said. "They could have easily sat back and watched the rest of the game happen. That is not what this team does. They fight and they battle. There were definitely some judgement calls throughout the game that did not go our way that changed the course of the game. That is where it is at."Morgan Leber singled with one out and stole second base in the top of the eighth inning, but Haileigh Kutscher bounced back with a pop out on the infield and an interference call on a ball hit by Haley Gockstettler to give the Tornadoes (14-11) a chance to win.Columbian cashed in as Jolene Cook opened the inning with a single and a sacrifice bunt by Alexis Caldwell advanced Cook. With first base open, Schmidt opted to pitch to leadoff hitter Bri Landers, who registered her fifth hit of the day on a single. With runners at first and third, Koryn Morlock took a 1-2 pitch and roped it into left field to walk it off for the Tornadoes."Our energy was really high the last inning or two," TC coach Erica Cok said. "Our energy level kind of dropped when Norwalk scored a bunch of runs in the sixth inning. We came back and handled it. We were very composed the whole time."With two significant comebacks already under its belt, Norwalk seized an opportunity in the top of the seventh inning. With the game tied at 14, Cassondra Shinksi led off the inning with her fourth hit and second double of the game. After McKenna Ames grounded out, Sophia Bores smacked her fifth hit - this one a single up the middle to give the Truckers their first lead since the top of the first inning.The Tornadoes answered in the bottom half of the inning. Katelyn Bates walked with one out before a groundout by Gracie Chester advanced Bates. Then, Kenadie Sherman reached on an infield single and a short bloop hit by Kutscher fell just behind Gockstettler in the circle to tie the game at 15. With the winning run in scoring position, Gockstettler bounced back to induce a groundout to send the game to extra innings."(Gockstettler) is going to be a good pitcher and she already is, really," Cok said. "She had the same issue as us in terms of hitting spots at times, but she took it on the chin and moved on."Bores opened the game with a triple and she scored on a sacrifice fly from Callie Helton for a quick 1-0 lead for Norwalk. It did not take the Tornadoes long to respond as RBI singles from Morlock and Kutscher helped Columbian to a 4-1 advantage after one inning.Norwalk answered with run-scoring singles from Shinksi and Bores to cut the lead to a run, but the Tornadoes did not relent. Columbian put up five more runs — aided by a two-run double from Bates and RBI singles off the bats of Landers, Sherman, and Kutscher — to balloon the margin to 9-3 after two innings.But, Gockstettler settled in long enough to give her team a chance. The freshman retired a string of seven out of eight batters while Norwalk scored four runs in the third and two more in the fifth to tie the game, 9-9."Not all of those nine runs by Columbian were earned," Schmidt said. "There were some errors that contributed to those. Haley did not let those get her down. She is a freshman and she has a great future ahead of her. She is already a leader and she is taking the initiative."But, just as things got tight, Columbian exploded for another big inning. The Tornadoes batted around for the second time in four innings, scoring five runs on the fifth, highlighted by Landers' two-run double, for a 14-9 edge.The Truckers were game for the challenge, sending 10 hitters to the plate for the second time in the game. Norwalk again used a patience approach at the dish, forcing Kutscher to throw strikes. Bores and Gockstettler each singled in runs while Leber walked with the bases loaded apart of a five-run inning, again tying the game, this time at 14.Kutscher finished with nine walks while giving up 15 hits. She finished at 170 pitches for the Tornadoes, who advance to take on third-seeded Clear Fork on Friday."We learned early that we needed to be patient and wait for our strike," Schmidt said. "That was our strategy after the first couple of innings and that led to a lot of our offensive explosion. The umpire had a tight strike zone, but he was consistent on both sides. We knew we needed to be patient."Out of the No. 8 spot, Shinksi finished 4 for 4 batting with two doubles and three runs scored."That is huge," Schmidt said. "Honestly our whole lineup — there is no typical bottom of the lineup for us. Our whole lineup is aggressive and they do really well. So it is no surprise that she did that awesome. She had a great day at the plate."Bores went 5 for 5 with three RBIs in and three runs scored."She is a really tough out," Schmidt said. "She always finds a way to get on and she had some clutch moments today. Our comebacks would not have been able to happen without her." Norwalk 124 025 10 — 15 16 4Columbian 450 050 11 — 16 21 3WP: Kutscher; LP: Gockstettler2B: (N) Leber, Shinksi (2); (TC) Landers (2), Bates, Chester, Kutscher. 3B: (N) Bores