Seven innings of softball weren’t enough to determine a regional champion on Tuesday night in Estherville, as the Algona Bulldogs and Estherville Lincoln Central Midgets battled deep into the night before the Midgets finally ended the game in the 12th inning, scoring the tying and winning runs after there had been two outs and nobody on base, with Haylee Stokes winning the game on a walk-off single.
Twice, Algona had Estherville Lincoln Central down to their final out in extra innings with nobody on base, once in the 8th with Algona leading 1-0, and once in the 12th with Algona leading 2-1. Both times, Estherville Lincoln Central came up big to extend their season and win region 6.
Right from the get go, a pitchers duel developed between Estherville Lincoln Central senior Rylee Yager and Algona junior Allison Trunkhill. Yager was lights out to start the game, retiring the first 11 Bulldog batters, seven by way of the strikeout, including striking out the first five batters of the game. Reagan Haynes finally broke up the perfect game with a two out single in the 4th, before Maya Lentz was walked to put two on with two out. Yager extinguished the threat by getting Ryan Haynes on a foul out.
Not to be outdone, Trunkhill matched zeros with Yager for the first seven innings, as the game advanced to extra innings. The best scoring opportunity for the Midgets in the first seven innings was in the first, as the Midgets put two on with one out before Trunkhill retired the final two of the frame. After that point, Trunkhill never allowed more than one baserunner to reach in a single inning until the 8th, working 1-2-3 second, fifth, and sixth innings.
Algona had one golden opportunity to score prior to the seventh. In the fifth inning with nobody out, Lainey Ventiecher started the frame with a base hit, and Emma Spear reached on an error to put Bulldogs at first and second with nobody out. An infield ground ball advanced them to second and third with one out, but Yager struck out Bella Jo Dunning and forced Kaitlyn Burns to hit into a fielders choice and end the threat.
The Bulldogs finally broke through in the 8th inning. After the inning began with two outs and nobody on, Trunkhill legged out an infield single, Reagan Haynes reached safely on an error at shortstop, and an opposite field single by Maya Lentz delivered the run from second to put Algona on top 1-0.
Algona had a chance to end the game and punch their first state ticket since 2020, as Trunkhill retired the first two batters in the bottom of the 8th on one pitch each. With the Midgets down to their final chance, Cara Schiltz hit a line drive single off of Trunkhill’s glove, and Yager lined a triple to center field to tie the game.
In the circle, Yager dialed back in, not letting a Bulldog baserunner get past first in the 9th, 10th, or 11th innings. Kaitlyn Burns singled with one out in the 10th, but was caught stealing at second base by catcher Hillary Ruschy.
After Trunkhill set the side down in order in the 9th and 10th, Estherville Lincoln Central missed a chance to win the game in the 11th inning. With one out, Yager beat out an apparent infield single, but was called out for the second out of the inning as she was out of the batters box when hitting the ball. The Midgets proceeded to load the bases with two outs, before Trunkhill struck out Grace Nath to end the threat.
In the top of the 12th, a one out error allowed Kayla Buscher to reach first safely, as she eventually advanced to second base, with a pickoff throw to first by the catcher Ruschy deflecting off of the glove of first baseman Kacie Brechwald and getting away. An infield single by Burns with two outs put runners at the corners, then a dribbler to second base by Trunkhill resulted in the fifth error of the night by the Midgets, as Burns running to second briefly blocked the vision of second baseman Suri Shatto, who couldn’t come up with the grounder, giving Algona a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the inning, Algona found themselves one out away from the state tournament for the second time in extra innings after Trunkhill retired the first two batters of the 12th. The Bulldog junior then issued back to back walks, before Yager tied the game for the second time, following her tying triple in the eighth inning with the tying single in the 12th. The next batter Stokes walked off the Bulldogs on a single to right, sending Estherville Lincoln Central to state for the fourth time in the past five seasons and 12th time in program history.
In the win, Yager struck out 18 Bulldogs while walking just two, allowing two runs on eight base hits. Trunkhill finished with 10 strikeouts and four walks in 11.2 innings, giving up three runs and nine hits. Algona concludes their season with a 20-7 record, while Estherville Lincoln Central moves to 23-7.
