Late rally thwarted by error, walk-off
By Mike Ramczyk
OAKFIELD – Sydney Robson immediately broke down in tears after the conclusion of Tuesday’s WIAA Division 5 softball sectional semifinal in Oakfield.
The Catholic Central senior pitcher sat and sobbed behind the dugout for a few extra minutes, as her teammates waited for her to join them on the field for one last breakdown.
Erin Schwenn and other players hugged her to try to console her.
Robson didn’t want her Topper career to end.
“I’m can’t keep myself together, if that makes any sense,” Robson said while fighting back tears on the field after the game. “In the seventh, we had high hopes, and it didn’t turn out our way.”
In the blink of an eye against the top-seeded Oaks, it went from miraculous comeback to heartbreaking defeat for the second-seeded Toppers.
Catholic Central rallied for two runs with two outs in the seventh, only to see the host Oaks celebrate with a walk-off 5-4 victory in the bottom of the frame.
The Toppers, ranked sixth in the state, finished the season 20-5, while the third-ranked Oaks improved to 22-4.
A furious comeback
Things looked bleak for Catholic Central, which was on the brink of defeat trailing 4-2 with two outs in the top of the seventh.
But sophomore Christina Paleka capped a 3-for-4 day with a blooper into center and legged out a double to keep the Toppers alive. Then, Robson worked the count before crushing an RBI double to right-center.
Finally, Anne Fabiani lined a base hit up the middle to score Robson and tie the game at 4-4.
Catholic Central’s momentum quickly dissipated, however.
Oakfield led off their last at-bat with a double to right-center, and the next batter laid down a bunt. Freshman first baseman Katie Goethal charged and tried to make a play at third to eliminate the winning run, but the ball trickled past Laine Dirksmeyer and the game was over.
The Oaks leaped in ecstasy while the Toppers agonized in defeat.
“We had the bases loaded early in the game and one out, and hitters that I trusted, and it just didn’t work out,” said Catholic Central coach Bill Greskiw. “That was probably more responsible for us not jumping on that opportunity than the last inning. The last inning, we got lucky enough to have a second opportunity. A lot of times against a team like that, you don’t get a second opportunity.”
In the second inning, after Fabiani and Paleka singles along with a Robson walk loaded the bases, the team’s other senior, Emily Swanson, hit an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2. The Toppers stranded the bases loaded.
“It doesn’t feel real, I don’t think it’s set in yet,” Swanson said. “Once I don’t go to practice, I think that will be it. I’m proud of us, though.”
Robson and Oakfield’s pitcher settled down on the mound in the next two innings before Robson got into trouble in the fifth.
After she retired the first two batters with weak infield pop-ups, Robson grooved one to Brianna Sabel, who launched a solo home run over the center-field fence to give the Oaks a 3-2 lead.
“I called the wrong pitch on that home run,” Greskiw said. “That’s what I go home with.”
The next batter popped up to center field for what looked like the final out, but Morgan Dietzel misjudged the ball and it dropped behind her for a double. The Oaks capitalized on the mistake, as the next batter doubled to extend the lead to 4-2.
Mistakes hurt Toppers
Catholic Central finished with two errors, and several other misplays in the outfield led to extra bases for the Oaks.
“We got hits when we needed to get hits, but all season we let our errors get to us,” Robson said. “For years coming, the biggest thing this team is going to have to work on is not letting errors get in their heads during games. We do everything right, or we don’t do it right. But we do it all together.”
Robson allowed three earned runs, stuck out five and gave up seven hits while walking one.
The Toppers out-hit the Oaks, eight to seven, but only Paleka, Fabiani, Robson and Swanson had hits.
Sabel was 2-for-3 to lead Oakfield.
Greskiw was proud of the Toppers’ late comeback, and he was surprised Oakfield pitched to Robson. Central’s bottom of the order combined to go 0-for-14, limiting the run-scoring opportunities for top of the lineup, which sizzled to go 8-for-13.
“Christina, Sydney and Anne, you can’t ask for three better hitters to put together three hits, and they did it,” he said. “What we need is some of the bottom of the order to get on. Last game, they did that. That allows the top of the order to knock them in.”
“The fact that our top of the order got it done should surprise no one. I’m a little surprised they pitched as well as they did to Sydney.”
Catholic Central enjoyed an undefeated conference season and won a regional title before taking Oakfield, a very complete, talented team, to the limit.
Greskiw said the program will miss Robson and Swanson.
“Emily she just does her job, and we’ll miss her,” Greskiw said. “And Sydney is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of player.”
Robson, who will play Division 3 college softball at St. Olaf’s in Minnesota, will play travel ball this summer and will play softball in Europe in July.
She will major in psychology and wants to go to law school.
“Beating (Kenosha) Tremper,” Robson said about her best memory this year. “It summed up our year. When we put our heads in the game, no matter the odds, we were really good.”
For Swanson, who will major in Biology at Carthage, it was special to go undefeated in conference.
“You can’t ask for better than that,” Swanson said.
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