So close, and yet so far.
The Wayne American Legion Post 43 Juniors were two outs away from punching their ticket to the state tournament, but a late defensive breakdown got in the way.
Waverly took advantage of four Wayne errors over the last two innings, scoring five unanswered runs to claim a 9-8 win in the B-3 Area finals last Wednesday at Valley’s Legion Field.
The win sent Waverly to the Class B state tournament that started Saturday in Alliance, leaving the 13-7 Wayne Juniors empty-handed and disappointed.
Things were looking good for the Post 43 Juniors after a six-run third inning put the locals ahead 7-4.
The two teams traded runs in the first inning. Brody Munter answered Waverly’s first run by reaching on an error and coming home on a groundout by Jaxson Kneifl.
Waverly had taken a 4-1 lead with three runs in the top of the third inning, but the Post 43 Juniors responded with a six-run tally in the bottom of the inning, sending 10 batters to the plate.
“I was really happy with that inning,” coach mike Sturm said. “We took advantage of some walks and the guys stayed aggressive at the plate and got us that big inning, and I think after that we kind of got complacent with that lead and couldn’t get anything strung together after that.”
The big inning started when Calvin Ankeny brought home the first run with a bases-loaded walk and Garrett Anderson followed with an infield single to deep shortstop, scoring Kneifl. Mason Heikes walked to load the bases a second time and Zander Liston and Munter both found the outfield with singles to give Wayne the three-run advantage.
Wayne got another run in the fourth when Anderson’s suicide squeeze plated Alex Rodriguez, and even after two errors led to three runs in the sixth, Wayne still clung to a one-run lead headed to the final frame.
Wayne’s defense came unraveled in the seventh, as two errors led to the tying and go-ahead runs to come home. Waverly shut down Wayne in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the win.
Rodriguez and Parker Patefield both pitched well in the losing effort. Rodriguez struck out seven in five innings and the five runs that scored during Patefield’s 1 2/3 innings of work were unearned.
“Alex pitched very well for us,” Sturm said. “He did everything we needed him to do tonight, and Parker got us five outs but our defense just hurt us there at the end. I think if we could have cleaned that up, we’d have been right there.”
Rodriguez, Drew Reinhardt and Liston each had two hits to lead Wayne’s 11-hit attack. Munter, Anderson and Liston both drove in two runs, and Munter stole three bases.
