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Flashes top LaBrae in thriller

Tribune Chronicle / Robert Hayes Emma Gumont of Champion is greeted by her teammates after she hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning Monday against LaBrae.

CHAMPION — On a soggy, rainy, windy and chilly afternoon, the Champion Golden Flashes stormed past the LaBrae Vikings with timely hitting and solid pitching to claim a softball victory by a score of 5-4.

LaBrae didn’t go down without a fight, as it entered the top of the seventh inning down 5-1, and climbed back to within one run. Natalie Sisler began the inning with a hit, but courtesy runner Cassie Smith was thrown out at third base on a subsequent hit.

She could have ended up being the extra run LaBrae needed, as Arianna Geordan, Kaitlin Gibson, and Corrina Morrow all eventually reached base and scored.

Vikings coach Demetra Noble understands that communication is key on the basepaths.

“Base running is huge, you don’t listen, you don’t pick me up, that’s what happens. Nothing I can do about it,” she said.

Tribune Chronicle / Robert Hayes Champion’s Sophie Howell prepares to make a pitch amid the raindrops Monday against LaBrae.

The Vikings did jump out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to an RBI double by Marissa Roberts. Champion (16-2) punched right back with an RBI single by Abbi Grace to make it a 1-1 ballgame going into the second inning. Neither team scored again until the bottom of the fifth.

Emma Gumont broke the tie with an absolute no-doubt home run to center field in the bottom of the fifth. Her two-run shot allowed the Golden Flashes to take their first lead of the ballgame. Abby White knocked in another run and the Flashes carried a 4-1 lead into the sixth inning.

Gumont added to her RBI total in the bottom of the sixth, bringing home an insurance run for Champion that the Flashes ended up needing.

Gumont knew that things wouldn’t be easy against a rival.

“I knew that playing LaBrae, that it would be good competition, and I just had to be smart up at the plate,” she said.

Tribune Chronicle / Robert Hayes Kaitlin Gibson of LaBrae touches a muddy home plate in the top of the seventh inning during a comeback attempt by the Vikings.

Golden Flashes coach Cheryl Weaver said she knew her team had to make an adjustment.

“I think if you look back, sometimes we were not swinging at a pitch we could really drive, we were hitting them in the infield. My thing was that we don’t have to be too anxious, be more relaxed up there and get better looks at the ball and find one you can drive.”

After a rocky first inning, Sophie Howell made quick work of the Vikings by allowing only one LaBrae base runner until the seventh.

Howell used breaking pitches such as the screwball and the riseball to record 11 strikeouts on the afternoon.

She said she understood why the Vikings were able to attack her pitches during their near comeback.

“I feel like I wasn’t moving the ball as much as I was in the beginning half of the game,” she said.”

Weaver said she thinks her team can learn from their near late game collapse.

“I asked them and told them, learn from these different things, we’ve got to back everything up and run through balls. We’ve got to know where we’re throwing it.

“Little things that, when you don’t come across them a lot, sometimes you’re thinking of that girl that just put it into play instead of the girl that was at third. But we’ve got to talk a little bit more so that these kids know where to go,” Weaver said.

Noble said she believes that a game plan is key for LaBrae.

“We’re working on some things, some strategies against other good hitting teams, we just threw pitches and they got on it. As a coach, we have to decide what we’re going to do offensively.”

“The fifth inning is always the breaking or making point,” Noble said.

Champion and LaBrae (14-5) are seeded first and second, respectively, in the upcoming Division III district tournament. Noble is chomping at the bit to play the Golden Flashes again.

“We’re working toward it, this is all strategy,” she said.

Gumont was just happy to beat her rival at home.

“It feels good. We all knew that we had to come out here and play our A games today, and that’s what we did.”

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