Wnek saves the day; CCA edges West Delaware in 9

FORT DODGE -- Where to start?

Caitlin Wnek's season-saving home run? Jazmyne Neely's go-ahead hit?

To hear them talk, neither one.

Start with the win. Start with the team, and end there too.

"I do it for the team," Wnek said after second-ranked Clear Creek Amana rallied, then edged No. 9 West Delaware, 6-5, in a nine-inning Class 3A quarterfinal at the state softball tournament Tuesday evening at the Rogers Sports Complex. "They're team swings -- all for the team."

Clear Creek Amana (41-2) will face No. 3 Dallas Center-Grimes in a semifinal at 3 p.m. Thursday. The Fillies (39-5) rallied past No. 8 Keokuk, 9-6.

The Clippers were two outs away from the consolation bracket when Wnek came to the plate and her team trailing 5-4 in the top of the seventh.

She drilled a 2-1 offering over the left-field fence for her second homer of the game -- her 10th of the season.

"I was looking for my pitch. It was right there, and I knew I could hit it," said Wnek, who went 4-for-5 and upped her batting average to .640.

"Her batting average is legit," said West Delaware Coach Kevin Schuchmann. "The scouting report said you couldn't throw around her. The second one she hit out, it was high and tight."

Wnek's homer merely tied the game. There was still work to be done.

It got done in the ninth inning. With two outs, Tara Walls doubled. Then Neely followed with her fourth hit of the game, a double that put the Clippers ahead for the first time.

"The whole time I was up there, I was thinking about the team," Neely said. "Our slogan is, 'Trade me for we.' "

The Clippers' comeback -- they trailed 4-1 after four innings -- made a winner of Maliah Fligg, who came on in relief of Mariah McKinnon and pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

"We knew this was going to be a heck of a game," said CCA Coach Jim White. "We've been in a lot of wild games this year, because this is the most runs we've given up in a season. The kids did a nice job of not panicking."

West Delaware (36-8) took a 2-0 lead on Jessica McDonald's double in the first inning, then increased the advantage to 4-1 on Jenna Hermsen's homer in the fourth.

Wnek's first homer brought the Clippers within 4-3, then Neely scored on Mallory Neubauer's ground out in the sixth to tie it.

The Hawks reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Autumn Reeder singled home Hermsen in the bottom of the sixth, then Wnek's solo shot extended the game.

"Our kids gave their best effort; it's too bad somebody has to lose this game," Schuchmann said. "We knew we could come in and give them a battle."

West Delaware meets Keokuk in a consolation semifinal at noon Wednesday, then plays in the fifth- or seventh-place game at 4 p.m.

AT FORT DODGE

Clear Creek Amana         001 021 101 -- 6  14  1

West Delaware                   200 201 000 -- 5  10  2

Mariah McKinnon, Maliah Fligg (6, W) and Cassie Downes. Jenna Hermsen (L) and Alyssa McDowell. HR -- CCA: Caitlin Wnek 2. WDel: Hermsen.