Cats Walk-off on Senior Night

The Softball Cats triumphed over St. Charles West in extras thanks to Deanne Pfyl’s walk- off sacrifice fly on Senior Night.

The game started off very well for the Senior ridden Cats. Fresh off the Senior night festivities, Junior Dani Mabry struck out the side in the top of the first. Then came in the dugout and scored the first run of the game on Reese Earlywine RBI double. Earlywine scored herself on a wild throw down to second which was immediately followed by a wild pitch on which Senior Deanne Pfyl scored. The Wildcats continued to score in the bottom of the second when Whitney Radloff scored on a wild pitch, putting the Cats up by a score of 4-0 and firmly in the driver’s seat.

The score held until the top of the fourth when the Warriors of St. Charles West finally broke through. Not to go down without a fight, the Warriors started to put the ball in play. They put up 3 runs without an out and then took the lead 5-4 in the same inning on a base hit to right field. The inning ended on, weirdly enough, on a groundout to the Right Fielder. The Cats went from blowing out the Warriors to being behind, and the score stayed this way all the way until the 6th, the final inning in regulation. Senior Whitney Radloff started the game saving rally with a base hit, then down to their last out, pinch hitter Katelynn Graham came up with a base knock to extend the inning. Opening the door for super Sophomore Lauren Gates to tie the game with a RBI single that just barely got over the head of the first baseman.

The extra frame did not start well as the Warriors got their first base runner on. The momentum quickly came back to the Cats however as Gates caught the runner stealing on the next pitch. The Cats made it through the rest of the inning unscathed. Earlywine lead off the bottom of the 7th with a base knock past the third baseman. Then one of the key plays of the game, with 1 out, Earlywine took off to steal second, the West catcher fired the ball past the shortstop and into the outfield, allowing Earlywine to pop up and take third. Pfyl hit the walk-off 3 pitches later, a sacrifice fly to the center fielder who could not beat Earlywine home on the throw. Fittingly, 4 year Varsity player Deanne Pfyl got the walk-off in her last game at the Westminster field.

The team celebrated Senior Night before the game with flowers for each Senior and her parents. Of the 12 players on the Softball team, 8 are Seniors. Clearly the team will be greatly affected by the exodus of such a large part of their team next season. Of the 8 Seniors, 4 have been on Varsity since their Freshman year (Deanne Pfyl, Maddie Volding, Izzi Clawson, and Erin King). The WCA Softball program will miss every Senior dearly.

“We are all gonna miss them so much. I have played with them since I was a freshman and we have grown super close over the years. Without them the team will feel empty” said Junior Katelyn Graham.

Being down to their last out did not seem to phase the Cats. In a situation where they easily could’ve given up they refused to. They came together and found a way to put up the last two runs on the board.

“It was a team effort. We all came together in the last inning and pushed through even though it was a tough beginning. We came back and won as a team”

The team’s next home game is the 27th against Cor Jesu, come out and support the team as they look to gain momentum going into districts.