With a chilly breeze fluttering Friday night at Richland, the Lady Comets defied the odds as the three seed, coming back twice to defeat Eugene 8-6 to claim the Class 2, District 10 championship.

“I’m very proud of the girls,” Coach Dana Scheppers. “We were down 4-0 and they could have given up but they didn’t.

They could have quit when we were down by two later in the game but these girls really wanted this. They hung in there and kept fighting.”

Chesney Luebbering, who delivered a home run in the third inning to get the Lady Comets back on solid footing, had a solid at-bat to lead off the top of the seventh, fouling off several pitches before delivering a single to center field.

She stole second but had to stay there on a line-drive out.

Taylor Bexten stepped into the box and singled on a hard ground ball through the right side to drive in Luebbering.

That made it an 6-5 game, and the Lady Comets were just getting warmed up.

Laney Bassett entered the game for Bexten and promptly stole second.

From there, she came around to score on a very close play at the plate on a single by Karli Struemph, who went to second and throw home. Anna Eichholz entered as a courtesy runner for Struemph.

The game was tied for the second time as Ally Havens smacked a hard grounder through the left side, which pushed Eichholz to third. Havens went to second on defensive interference, and set the stage for Lauren Brandt, who delivered a fielder’s choice that did not record
an out, but plated Eichholz and moved Havens to third.

Leading 7-6, Fatima scored an insurance run as the next batter, Chayce Gier, drilled the ball to left field to drive in Havens.

It would have to be enough.

In the bottom of the seventh, Gier, who struck out five in the game, got the first batter to fly out, but the next hitter singled to left. A hit back up the middle was fielded by Gier, who threw to second to cut down the lead runner, and the final out came on a grounder to Struemph.

“The nerves didn’t stop until the final out,” said Scheppers. “In the seventh they had one on and the tying run at the plate, so yeah, it was nerve-wracking.”

Fatima couldn’t get the offense going early on but found a groove in the third.

“Most of the lineup had a hit, which is really good,” said Scheppers. “ In our last meeting with Eugene, the girls overlooked them, and losing that game was a wake-up call.

It really focused the girls and lit a fire under them. In that loss to Eugene, we couldn’t get our timing down against their pitcher. This time I thought the girls were patient.

Once we scored a couple runs the confidence went up, and that continued after we tied the game. The girls found the rhythm and began to get her. We’ve faced a lot of good pitching this year in preparation for districts.” By the third inning, Fatima faced a 4-0 deficit.

“Chayce struggled a bit in the first inning,” said Scheppers. “I think nerves got the better of her but that’s understandable. She’s a sophomore playing for a district championship. But she settled in, and she always gets stronger as the game goes on. They hit well. They’re a very good hitting team. They had 20 home runs coming into the district tournament so we knew what they were capable of doing.”

Eugene scored two runs in the first, and added two more in the second, one of which came on a home run, but then Fatima struck.

Ellie Brune drew a leadoff walk, and then Luebbering sent the ball over the right field fence to cut the lead in half. Londyn Stuckenschneider kept it going with a single to short, and two batters later, Struemph walked.

Havens singled to right field, and Stuckenschneider was thrown out at home for the second out of the inning.

That put Brandt at the plate with two on and two outs, and she came through with a double to left that cleared the bases and tied the game.

Gier sat the next three batters down in order in the bottom of the third and looked sharp the rest of the way.

“Chayce has done a phenomenal job all year,” said Scheppers. “She kept her composure and that’s something she’s really been working on not getting down on herself. She’s the team leader and the girls look to her. When she’s up the rest of the team is up.”

Gier allowed four runs on 10 hits and walked just one.

Offensively, the team counted 12 hits.

Fatima will face Warsaw today (Wednesday) on the road and it won’t be an easy sectional.

“They can hit,” said Scheppers. “They’re a solid team. We’re going to have to show up and really play sound softball. We’re younger than them, but my girls are tough. We just need to take the confidence from this win into the next game.”

In the first round of district play, Fatima knocked off Iberia 7-2.

“We knew they were hittable and our defense played well,” said Scheppers. “Offensively, we had good production from most of the lineup.

When the bottom of the order can hit the ball it sets up opportunities for the top of the order. You can win games with quality hitting from your eight and nine hitters.”

The Lady Comets had 13 hits on the day, as Luebbering went 2-3 with a double, Havens was 3-4, Brandt went 2-3 with a double, and Struemph, Molly Kloeppel, Stuckenschneider, Brune and Bexten each provided a hit.

From the circle, Gier allowed two earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts and no walks.