Baseball legend Yogi Berra once said “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” And nowhere was that more true than at the Wayne Summer Sports Complex on Thursday evening.
Visiting Tekamah-Herman scored seven runs in the third inning and looked to be on their way to an easy win, but Wayne made a dramatic comeback, capped by a four-run effort in the bottom of the seventh to post an 8-7 win over the Tigers.
It looked to be the visitors’ game early on. They chased Wayne stater Sammi Gubbels after scoring three runs in the top of the third, then rudely greeted reliever Mackenzie Nissen with four more runs, all of them coming on a grand slam homer by Sammie Brodersen, to make it 7-0.
Wayne would get a run in the bottom of the inning when Liberty Titiml singled and eventually came home on a groundout by Nissen to make it 7-1.
Wayne’s comeback picked up in the sixth inning when Nyla Bolles singled, stole second and scored on a Taytem Ellis double. Ellis came home on a single by Delaney Kruse, who later scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Rylin Hall to cut the deficit to 7-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, Titiml got the rally started with a one-out walk and moved to third on a double by Nissen. Bolles followed with a single up the middle, scoring both, and stole second to put the tying run in scoring position.
Kruse came up and slapped the first pitch up the middle for a base hit to tie the game. She then stole second to set up the game-winner, which came when Jersi Jensen’s hot shot to third was mishandled and trickled into left field, allowing Kruse to come home with the winning run.
Wayne outhit Tekamah-Herman 9-5, with most of those hits coming in the final two at bats. Kruse had three hits, Bolles had two, Ellis and Nissen doubled and Titiml and Kierah Haase added hits. Bolles, Kruse and Titiml both scored twice.
Nissen got the win in relief of Gubbels, striking out four and allowing just two hits after giving up the grand slam homer that gave Tekamah-Herman its biggest lead of the night.
The 6-3 Blue Devils play in the Omaha Mercy Invitational on Saturday and are back home Tuesday to host Pierce.
