Softball Rises from Dead in 7th to Stun West Branch
Louisville 8, West Branch 5
The Louisville Leopards Varsity Softball team rallied for 6 runs in the top of seventh to stun the host West Branch Warriors 8-5 Thursday evening at WBHS. With the win, Louisville is now 9-6 overall and 7-1 in conference play.
The Warriors had the Leopards right where they wanted them. West Branch built a 5-2 lead at the end of six innings with the bottom of the Louisville lineup coming up to bat.
Savannah Miner was hit by a pitch on just the second pitch to kickstart the Leps in the top of the seventh. Peyton McKeever followed with a bloop single to right field and Miner, who was held up from the threat of a catch, sped into second base before the force out could be made.
Two batters later Kylie Zifer crushed the second pitch of her at-bat. The ball landed beyond the centerfield fence for a game-tying 3-run home run and Zifer was mobbed by her teammates at homeplate. The shot was Zifer’s 2nd home run of the season and the Lady Leopards 17th as a team.
The Louisville machine did not stop there though. Grace Jackson turned a routine basehit into a double 
with her aggressive base running. She then scored from second for the go-ahead run after Katie Cozy reached on an overthrow to first. Jackson would finish the evening 3-for-4 at the plate with 3 runs scored to lead the Leopards. She also hit a solo blast that easily cleared the right field fence in the opening inning. The homer run was the 17th of her career as she is now tied with Desi Givens for third place on the LHS all-time list.
The Louisville parade continued, and they added two insurance runs after that. Emily Cantley whacked a slow roller through the center of the infield bringing home Cozy from second. In the next at-bat, Lexi Givens was hit by a pitch on a 2-2 count to put runners on first and second. Aliyah English batted next and hit a ground ball to second. The Warriors elected to try to twist a double play and successfully putout Givens at second. However, the ensuing throw to first missed its mark and that allowed courtesy runner Ellie Jackson to score from second. 8-5 Leopards
Louisville Pitcher Kirsten Wharmby got 3 of the 4 West Branch batters to ground out in the bottom of the seventh sending the Leopards players into victorious pandemonium. Wharmby worked the final 4 1/3 innings, gave up no earned runs on 3 hits, and struck out 4 to earn the victory. Starter Morgan Harris also struck out 4 Warriors batters in 2 2/3 innings of work.
West Branch was led by Kelsey Byers who batted 1-for-2 with a double and 2 RBIs. Kylie Coffelt also doubled & drove in a run and Sarah Weber added 2 hits for the Warriors.
With the victory, Louisville has now defeated West Branch in 23 consecutive meetings which includes the last 11 at WBHS. The Lady Leopards now hold a 43-15 lead in the all-time series which includes a 19-8 record at West Branch. Louisville has now won 59 out of their last 60 NBC games.
UP NEXT: The Lady Leopards will next travel to Jackson to take on the Polar Bears on Monday, April 27 at 4:30 PM.
Don’t forget to Subscribe to Our Posts for Free
Order Individual Player Highlight Video
