Kali Nelson delivers; No. 3 Lisbon escapes Springville’s regional softball upset bid

LISBON — Bob Bunting gave Kali Nelson one swing.

And one swing was plenty.

Nelson singled home Gabi Moehlman for the winning run, and third-ranked Lisbon rallied past Springville, 7-6, in a Class 1A softball regional semifinal Friday night at Bob Bunting Field.

Reprieve? You bet.

“The way we played defense tonight, we were damn lucky,” said Bunting, whose 1,267th career win was a memorable one. “We don’t drop fly balls. But we did tonight.

“We’re going to have to be a lot better Monday.”

That’s when Lisbon (34-4) hosts No. 9 Clarksville (19-2) in a regional final. A win would send the Lions to the state tournament for the fifth consecutive year.

Springville (22-14) was two outs away from raining on the Lions’ parade. But there was no panic from the hosts.

“We had confidence in each other,” Moehlman said. “We knew what each other were capable of. We’re good in the late innings. We had faith in each other.”

With the Lions down 6-5, Chloe Clausen started the rally with a single, then Moehlman tripled her home.

“I just had to get a good hit and get on base,” Moehlman said.

With the winning run at third and one out, Orioles Coach Anthony Troyna intentionally walked both Peyton Robinson and Mia Petersen.

It was sound strategy: “I knew what both of them could do at the plate,” Troyna said, and Nelson was 0-for-4.

But Nelson sent a 1-0 pitch back up the middle, and the Lions were winners.

“We’ve come through before,” Nelson said. “We’ve come from behind multiple times.

“(Bunting) told me to hit the ball on the ground.”

Bunting said afterward that once Nelson got a strike on her, he was going to signal the squeeze bunt, even with a force at home.

“We’ve got one of the fastest kids on our team (in Moehlman) at third. Kali was getting one swing, then she was going to bunt,” he said.

Springville rallied from a 4-1 deficit, taking the lead twice in the late innings.

“We were down three runs early, but we found ways to get back in it,” Troyna said.

A two-run double by Nia Howard in the sixth put the Orioles in front, 5-4, then Lisbon got even in the bottom of the inning on an error.

Kailee Jacobs led off the top of the eighth with a home run — her first of the season, just inside the right-field foul pole — to give Springville a 6-5 advantage, but Lisbon came back one more time.

Reprieve? You betcha.

“Like Coach told us in the huddle, we’ll learn from this,” Nelson said. “We’ve got work to do (Saturday) and Sunday. We’ll get back at it.”

Lisbon 7, Springville 6 (8)

Class 1A Regional Semifinal, at Lisbon

Springville 010 022 01 — 6 9 2

Lisbon 110 201 02 — 7 12 3

Molly Stamp and Grace Matus. Ryleigh Allgood and Blair Baltes. W — Allgood (26-2). L — Stamp (10-3). HR — SPR: Kailee Jacobs (1), LIS: Mia Petersen (3).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com