Woodbine defeated Griswold/CAM in the quarterfinal of the Girls 1A Regional Softball tournament by a score of 7-4. Woodbine outhit the Tigers 16 to 6 on Wednesday night with 13 singles that put pressure on Griswold/CAM pitcher Ailey Wahlert all night. The Griswold/CAM Tigers came in as the favorites with a 17-6 record but strong pitching from Woodbine’s Brooklynn Valles held the Tigers in check all night and ended a great season in Griswold.
Woodbine was off to hot start, striking first in the top of the first inning. However, Ailey Wahlert’s ability to hold them to just one run despite two bases loaded jams kept the the game from getting out of hand early. That 1-0 lead would hold until the third inning as Woodbine’s Brooklynn Valles set the first 6 Griswold/CAM Tigers in order.
The game started to pick up in the third inning, as a four hit, two run inning gave the Woodbine Tigers a 3-0 lead. Carsyn Adams led off the bottom of the third with a single and would later score to put the Tigers on the board courtesy of a Keely Kinney single. It was 3-1 heading into the bottom of the 4th, and Griswold/CAM had an opportunity to make it even closer when Braxton Gipple hit a leadoff double but would not come around to score.
Woodbine came around to score twice in both the 5th and 6th innings to make it 7-2 going into the bottom of the 6th. Griswold/CAM saw their first true life of the ballgame in that half of the inning. Tayler Follmann and Ashten Dorsey both walked with 1 out and Daphna Wahlert delivered with a single up the middle to make it a three run ball game. However, those would be the last runs of the game as the Tigers went three up three down to end it in the 7th. Despite a strong second half effort, their season came to a close at home by a score of 7-4. Despite the loss, Head Coach Jody Russell is proud of the girls’ efforts last night and throughout the season.
It felt like at any moment the Tigers could have came back in the game, and Coach Russell wanted to show her faith in the team even until the final strike:
Courtney Follmann had to exit in the middle of the game due to injury, but it was her sister Tayler who helped spark a 6th inning rally after being subbed into the game following Courtney’s injury.
Griswold/CAM’s 2026 season came to and end with a record of 17-7. They finished second in the Corner Conference and were awarded a bye in the Class 1A Region 4 Tournament.
