The Griswold-CAM softball team punched its ticket to the regional semi-final with a 6-2 win over the Underwood Eagles Wednesday night. Ailey Wahlert worked a complete game and although she had to work around walks, she only gave up three hits. Offensively, Griswod-CAM put the leadoff batter on base in every inning and used that to score three in the fourth and two in the fifth to take control of the game. Underwood didn’t go away, picking up two in the sixth. However, Wahlert closed the door in the seventh.  Although it wasn’t Griswold-CAM’s crispest performance of the season, they made the right plays at the right time and cashed in on their opportunities.

After a scoreless first, Griswold-CAM started the scoring in the second. Keeley Kinney (3-for-3) led off with a base hit and was driven in by a combination of a base hit from Daphna Wahlert and a fielding error. This stood as the only run until the fourth. Once again, Griswold-CAM got the leadoff batter aboard, as Courtney Follman was hit by a pitch. This was immediately followed by a Kinney double into the gap to make it 2-0. Later in the inning, another combination of a hit and an error would bring two across to oush the lead to four. Griswold-CAM would add on in the fifth as Daphna Wahlert drilled a single off the left field wall to bring home Kinney and Ailey Wahlert to give Griswold-CAM a commanding lead.

Down by six, Underwood refused to quit. A furious two-out rally started by Lily McHenry (who reached base safely in all four plate appearances) saw back-to-back singles, back-to-back walks and an error cut Griswold-CAM’s lead to four. However, the Eagles would leave the bases loaded. Although Underwood earned two more walks in the seventh, Ailey Wahlert and Griswold-CAM were able to close out the game. Despite it not being the cleanest of games, in the postseason a win is all the same regardless of how pretty or ugly it is. All in all, it was a very solid effort from Griswold-CAM. Head Coach Jody Rossell was pleased with the team’s effort.

Although Ailey Wahlert didn’t have a perfect outing, she praised her ability to battle.

Overall, Rossell says the message to her team won’t change.

The win punches Griswold-CAM’s ticket to the Region 6 Semi-final. They will go up against a 27-win West Monana team in Griswold at 7 pm on Friday.