SOFTBALL: Lady Falcons stun defending state champs
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[In the middle of the fourth inning, third-ranked Cobden lead 3-0 over Elverado and had held the Lady Falcons without a single hit. All signs pointed to the defending 1A state champions notching another victory, but mistakes in the field by Cobden and big RBI hits by Kelsi Teague and Erika Will resulted in one of the biggest wins in recent history for the Elverado softball program on Monday afternoon.
With the game knotted at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, Will knocked in Teague with a single to win the game 5-4 in walk-off fashion for EHS.
"We've told the girls all along that they just don't know how good they can be," said Lady Falcons' head coach Donette Wheatley, adding "Now, they know!"
"This should boost our confidence, a big, big win."
The Lady Appleknockers picked up three runs off of Elverado pitcher Teague in the top of the third when Kristin Pender drove in two with a double, then scored on an error one batter later.
Chelsea Cochran singled and scored in the fourth for the Lady Falcons after Sami Hicks sacrificed her to third and Corrine Wilson reached on Pender's error.
"We took advantage of their mistakes and never broke down after the two errors in the third," Wheatley said.
In the bottom of the fifth, Alicen Khoo-Torres walked with two outs, then Meghann Trammel and Cochran had back-to-back singles to load the bases. Teague belted a double, scoring two, then Hicks reached on an error to allow Cochran to cross the plate for a 4-3 Elverado lead.
Kayla Quertermous led off the top of the sixth for Cobden with a triple, then scored on Taylor Wilkins' single to tie the game at 4-4, setting up the dramatic finish to the ball game.
After Teague sent the Lady Appleknockers down 1-2-3 in the top half, she reached on an error with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Hicks singled, then Wilson walked to load the bases for Will's game-winning RBI single.
Teague (3-1) picked up her third win of the season in the pitching circle, going the distance and allowing 7 hits, 2 earned runs and striking out 4. The senior hurler also held red-hot Cobden leadoff hitter Ana Duda hitless in the contest.
"Kelsi pitched a great game," said Wheatley. "She put the ball where she was supposed to and the defense did their job behind her."
At the dish, Cochran was 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored to lead the way for Elverado. Teague (1-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI), Trammel (1-4, R), Hicks (1-3, SAC), Will (1-3, BB, RBI) and Abby Grammer (1-3) also registered hits off of Pender.
The Lady Falcons (5-9, 1-2) will look to build on Monday's big win at Fairfield on Tuesday afternoon (4:30 p.m.).