1A regional softball: Defending state champs rallies past Moravia

Jul. 7—BUSSEY — The reigning champions against a young upstart.

Sounds like the type of storyline that would make for a great prizefight, or even a classic sports movie.

In boxing terms, Moravia caught defending 1A state softball champion Twin Cedars with a one-two combination that rocked the Sabers against the ropes on Tuesday in the Class 1A, Region 8 quarterfinals. Like a true champion, however, 12th-ranked Twin Cedars fought back and before long had moved ahead on the scorecards against the upset-minded Mohawks.

Jordyn Weldon erased Moravia's early lead with a two-run single in the second inning before Rylee Dunkin, a key part of Twin Cedars state championship run last season, put the Sabers ahead for good with a two-out RBI triple to right. Dunkin added a second run-scoring hit in the fourth before coming home on Kisha Reed's two-out RBI double clinching a 6-2 win in Twin Cedars first postseason game since last summer's 6-3 win over Southeast Warren in the 1A state final.

"We came into the game with a good mindset. It's the same mindset we had last year that we're here to win it all," Dunkin said. "Everyone was a little bit anxious in that first inning, which can happen. Nerves are sometimes a good thing. The good thing for us is we got back in there and got our bats going. We settled down and made the plays, played our game and came out with the win."

Moravia, having already suffered 8-1 and 10-2 losses during the regular season to their Bluegrass Conference rivals, played like a team with nothing to lose on Tuesday. Peytin and Breegan Ellison each drew walks to open the game for the Mohawks, setting up Kjirsten Albertson who delivered a two-run double giving Moravia a sudden and surprising 2-0 lead.

"We said that we were going to go into this game with the attitude that it was going to be a dogfight," Moravia head softball coach Ashley Beals said. "We didn't let Twin Cedars just walk all over us. We came out strong swinging the bats well. We were very disciplined. We knew it was going to be a low strike zone. We stuck to it, got some really good hits and kept that momentum going."

Moravia (12-22) carried their 2-0 lead into the second inning as Alexa Bedford pitched around a one-out hit by Reed to keep the Sabers off the board in their first trip to the plate. Lauren Long added a two-out single in the second for the Mohawks, who continued to set the early tone in the regional quarterfinal.

"I was worried going into this game. Our pitching wasn't as much of a surprise to them having seen us for the third time. They knew what to expect from our hitters," Twin Cedars head softball coach Zach Dunkin said. "At this time of year, you're going to take every team's best shot. Moravia's got some good young talent. They looked like they were playing better late in the year."

To keep the dream of chasing down a second straight state title alive, Twin Cedars relied on players experiencing the thick of the championship chase for the first time. Alli Reed, who played in just 11 of Twin Cedars 31 games last summer, followed a lead-off walk drawn by Cheyanne Bruns with a single to put the tying run on base.

Weldon, one of the new Saber players in the varsity line-up this year, came through with a two-run single to tie the score. Reed, Kellie Stevenson, Jordan and Jayden Weldon produced throughout the game from the bottom of the order reaching six times in 12 trips to the plate with an RBI from Jayden Weldon in the fifth and three combined runs scored helping to rally Twin Cedars in their postseason opener.

"There's a lot kids that just went through their first postseason game," Zach Dunkin said. "Hopefully, they'll be a little more relaxed going forward.

"This is always the scariest game to get through in the postseason," Rylee Dunkin said. "If you can get through that first game, I think it allows everyone to settle in. We can learn from this experience. We know we can't allow teams to get out on top against us, but if we do get behind, we just need to do the same thing. We just need to stay calm and come back to get the win. Having that same mindset we'll really help us in the games that we're about to play."

Reed led No. 12 Twin Cedars (20-5) with three hits, including a pair of doubles including the two-out RBI hit in the fourth that brought in the sixth and final run of the game for the Sabers. Albertson and Long combined for three of Moravia's four hits while Destiny Nathaniel made several high-quality plays defensively at third base as the three departing Mohawk seniors gave their younger teammates a boost going into next season.

"We've got a huge ninth-grade class that will be sophomores next year. We only have two juniors that will be seniors and a great group of eighth-graders that will be joining us," Beals said. "The girls knew they were going to come out here and, if this was the last game, they were going to go out with a bang."

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.