This time the late comeback staged by Valparaiso, which scored 13 runs in the final two innings to win softball sectional opener, 19-14 in eight innings

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Dramatic late-inning home runs from Hannah Florian in last year’s sectional between Chesterton and Valparaiso, Lila Miller in this season’s first regular season rendition of the rivalry, and Florian again in the regular season, showed Valpo the hard way that no late lead is safe in a game with so many talented hitters on both sides.
This time, in Wednesday’s sectional semifinal at Valparaiso, Chesterton was on the receiving end of that harsh reality in a fall-from-ahead, 19-14 loss in eight innings.
Through six innings, it looked as if the pattern of Florian and Miller alternating clutch deep flies to drop their rivals was going to continue. Miller’s three-run home run in the fifth broke a 6-6 tie and the Trojans added two runs in the sixth to expand the lead to 11-6 with only three outs to go.
Three outs can be an eternity in this series, especially when the team with the lead experiences a defensive meltdown.
Valparaiso tied it with five runs in the seventh and held Chesterton scoreless in the bottom of the seventh to force it into extra innings.
The sectional host Vikings, the visiting team in this contest, scored eight more runs in the eighth with the help of Chesterton’s trouble finding the strike zone and defending the balls put in play.
The Vikings’ two best hitters, Elizabeth Kosek and Delilah Kincaid, hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning, for the team’s only home runs. Long balls weren’t the problem for Chesterton. The shortest hits, namely bunts, did far more damage to the Trojans.
Surrendering 13 runs in two innings can knock the fight out of a team, but not even that kept the Trojans from believing they had one more comeback in them. Their first two hitters, Lexi Smith and Kaydence Ford reached base and Payton Cherep (brought them in with a three-run homer that cleared the fence just left of center field.
Cherep had a monster day at the plate, going 4 for 5 with two runs, four RBI, two doubles and her first home run of the season. Miller went 3 for 5 with her third home run, scored two runs and drove in two, was immune to the defensive woes of the game, and made several slick defensive plays in the final game of a spectacular four-year varsity career. Hannah Florian also delivered many huge moments during her four years playing for the varsity. The only other seniors on the team, first baseman Natalie Dusendang and Lexi Smith, also were on the team as freshmen.
Characteristic hot hitting from the Trojans wasn’t enough to compensate for the trouble they had in catching throws and in some cases making either unnecessary or inaccurate throws on the way to seven errors. Valpo committed four of its own defensive miscues.
“They have a little more speed, but other than that we’re pretty much the same team, so it’s always going to be close,” Chesterton coach Erin Cochran said. “It’s just who’s going to come out on top and today Valpo came out on top.”
Chesterton finished 12-10 and went 10-4 in the DAC for third place. The Vikings improved to 16-9-1 and went 8-6 for fourth place in the DAC. They advanced to face Hobart in the championship game Saturday at 5 p.m.
But not without one more illustration of what Cochran liked best about her team. The Trojans had one more comeback in them. It just came up short.
“They never gave up,” Cochran said. “That was the biggest thing about our players. They don’t give up. We came back in the eighth inning and still scored three more runs. It’s just that we needed to get out of the seventh inning and we didn’t.”