The Wayne High softball team came back from a two-run deficit in the semifnals and went on to win the Wayne Softball Invitational title Saturday afternoon at the Summer Sports Complex.
But it wasn't easy.
Wayne was two outs away from suffering only their second loss in the 21-year history of the tournament, but rallied for an eight-inning, 7-5 win over Centura-Central Valley in the semifinals before finishing off Twin River with an 11-1 win in the finals.
After opening the day with a 13-3 win over O'Neill, three unearned runs had put the Blue Devils down 3-1 to the Diamonds in the semifinals going into the sevneth inning.
With one out in the seventh, Wayne rallied for two runs to tie the game, then averted defeat after the Diamonds put the winning run on third with nobody out, but could not get the winning run home.
In the eighth, Wayne (3-1) scored four times in the top of the inning. A two-run homer helped CCV cut the deficit in half, but the Blue Devils went on to win the game and advance to the finals.
CCV eventually lost to Arlington in the consolation game, 8-4. Ord defeated Ponca 13-2 in the fifth-place game while Pierce doubled up O'Neill 12-6 for seventh-place honors.
Wayne's only other loss in the Wayne Invitational was a 6-2 loss to Tekamah-Herman in the semifinals of the 2006 edition of the tournament. Wayne's overall record in the tournament's 21-year history is 62-1.
Complete coverage and highlights in this week's edition of The Wayne Herald.
