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Warren rallies for wild 13-12 win over Harbor Creek

Warren's Julia Lobdell flashes a smile after recording the final out of Tuesday's win against Harbor Creek.

The Warren Lady Dragons certainly have a flair for the dramatic.

Freshman Grace Wortman’s 2-run single in the bottom of the sixth inning turned out to be the game winner on Tuesday, as Warren rallied from a 5-run deficit to beat Harbor Creek 13-12 to earn another key Region 6 win.

It was a wild game, one that featured 11 extra base hits, an ejection and some brilliant relief pitching.

“I’ll tell you what, other than the Corry game, it’s never been if, it’s when,” said Warren coach Jon Sitler.

“I’m not saying we’re going to win every game, but the thing is we’re never out of any game because this team doesn’t give up.”

Warren’s Kiersten Hoffman pops up after tagging out Harbor Creek’s Sam Smith during Tuesday’s Region 6 game.

Wortman’s game winning hit scored Ellie Lobdell and Maddie Loutzenhiser and brought the Lady Dragons all the way back from a 7-run fifth inning by the Lady Huskies that gave them a 12-7 advantage.

Their was a collision at the plate with Loutzenhiser and Harbor Creek catcher Victoria Yanko on what turned out to be the deciding run, which was the second of the game the Warren first baseman was involved in, highlighting the aggressiveness that coach Sitler has praised his team for.

The first collision came when she was attempting to get back to second base in the fourth inning and ran into HC second baseman Sam Smith.

That brought out head coach Danielle Vukovic and assistant Rob Chase to dispute the call.

After a brief discussion, the home plate umpire warned Vukovic, who walked back to the dugout. Chase also walked back and was ejected after a relatively harmless comment for ‘continuing to run his mouth,’ according to the umpire.

Warren catcher Megan Wortman catches a pop-up during Tuesday’s game against Harbor Creek.

What followed were RBI hits from Celia Chase, Megan Wortman and Kiersten Hoffman to give Warren (8-1 overall, 5-1 Region 6) a 6-5 lead.

Harbor Creek (7-3, 4-2) had jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Chase’s sac fly and Gracie Wood’s 2-run single gave Warren a 3-2 advantage in the third.

Vukovic rallied her team after the unfortunate turn of events, and it was their turn to respond in the fifth. A 2-run home run by Kalle Forcht and a 2-run triple from Ali Benim highlighted the 7-run frame that put them up 12-7.

Warren’s bats were far from done, however.

“This team keeps coming at you,” Sitler said. “This team is very aggressive. Some of the mistakes we made were because we were aggressive, but that’s the reason we won, too. We were aggressive on the bases and aggressive on offense.”

Harbor Creek starter Alex Miller had the Lady Dragons off balance early, but by the fifth inning they had adjusted.

Lobdell led off with a double and scored on Grace Wortman’s RBI single in the bottom half of the fifth. Alexis Nyquist followed with an RBI single to bring in Wortman and cut the lead to 12-9 after five.

“What this team has to do is sit on the fastball and trust themselves, because they’re going to be able to adjust,” Sitler said. “Our whole mentality is to attack – attack strikes. We were sitting fastball and adjusting to the change-up. I thought once we did that we were able to hit both.”

After Megan Wortman was hit by a pitch to start the sixth inning, Wood, Lobdell and Loutzenhiser strung together three consecutive hits to cut the deficit to 12-11, setting up Grace Wortman’s clutch knock.

“Whenever they’re up to bat, I don’t think about what grade their in,” Sitler said.

“Grace is as seasoned as any senior out there. She’s played travel ball her whole life. It’s not a freshman up to bat, it’s Grace Wortman, the girl I’ve seen do it over and over again.”

That hit backed winning pitcher Julia Lobdell, who came on in relief late in the fifth inning and kept the Lady Huskies off the scoreboard over the final two innings to earn the win.

“We just wanted to give them a different look and Julia came through,” Sitler said. “That’s what we do as a team – we come through for each other.”

– – –

HARBOR CREEK (12)

Rafferty SS 5-1-3-0, Benim CF 4-1-1-2, Harayda 1B 5-1-3-1, Forcht DP 5-1-2-2, Yonko C 4-0-2-0, Sheridan CR 0-2-0-0, Miller P 3-0-1-0, Stoddard CR 0-2-0-0, Badach RF 4-1-0-2, Smith 2B 3-1-2-1, Haight 3B 0-0-0-0, Totals 35-12-15-9

WARREN (13)

Nyquist SS 3-2-1-1, Chase RF 3-1-1-2, M. Wortman C 3-3-3-1, Hoffman 3B 3-0-1-2, Wood CF 4-1-2-3, E. Lobdell P-LF 4-2-2-0, Loutzenhiser 1B 4-2-2-0, G. Wortman LF-2B 4-1-2-3, J. Lobdell 2B-P 4-1-1-0, Totals 32-13-15-12

Harbor Creek 110 370 0 – 12

Warren 003 424 x – 13

2B – E. Lobdell (W) 2, Nyquist (W), Hoffman (W), Forcht (H), Yonko (H); 3B – Wood (W), Benim (H), Miller (H), VanHorn (H); HR – Forcht (H); WP – J. Lobdell (1-0); LP – Miller

– – –

JV: Harbor Creek 7, Warren 1

Kiersten Hoffman had a home run, part of a 2-hit effort in the JV contest. Katie Freeborough and Grace Wortman played well defensively for the Lady Dragons.

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