The Highland Huskies (6-6, 4-3) softball team held off a late rally by the Columbus Wildcats (8-8, 6-3) to avenge an early-season loss with a 5-3 Husky victory in the KCII Area Game of the Week.

The errors that have haunted Columbus throughout the season reared their heads again Friday night, as a pair of miscues by Wildcat third baseman Lizbet Herrera and an overthrow by catcher Lily Coil allowed the Huskies to plate two runs in the top of the second inning. A 2-RBI double off the bat of eighth grader Adley Sweeting capped off a three-run top of the third extended Highland’s lead to 5-0.

A pitching change for Columbus allowed momentum to shift, though, as Coil took the circle in relief of junior Kennedy Woepking, and she locked the Highland lineup down over the final four innings, allowing just one walk and one hit.

The Columbus bats began to come alive in the bottom of the third as Ellie Sanders and Daniela Diaz hit back to back singles, but just as it seemed a comeback was brewing, Sanders committed one of softball’s cardinal sins, trying to take an extra base on Diaz’ short single and getting thrown out at third. 

A similar scene played out in the fifth, as Sanders’ RBI single put Columbus on the board, but just after Jessica Del Rio crossed home plate, Herrera was tagged out trying to take third base to end the inning.

Eighth-grade starting pitcher Jillian Stransky continued to work with runners on throughout the rest of the game, stranding a pair of runners and cutting a Wildcat rally off at just a single run again in the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, trailing by three, a walk and a single allowed Columbus to bring their best hitter Coil up to the plate as the tying run. Her RBI single cut the Husky lead to 2, and as she advanced to second on the throw, Woepking, who hit a home run the last time that the two sides collided, stepped to the dish. With her back against the wall, Stransky drew a high pop-up from Woepking that was hauled in by second baseman Lilly Barre, the lone Highland senior, to close out the game for the young Huskies. Eighth-grade right fielder Siena Bell credits leaders like Barre and her coaching staff with allowing Highland to build into the year, “We really just started coming together as a team in the end, I have a lot of role models.”

Stransky earned the win in a complete game effort, stranding six runners in the final three innings. She gave up ten hits, all singles, and one walk on the night.

Woepking was hit with the loss, giving up five runs, three of which were earned, on two hits and two runs.

Sweeting led the charge offensively for Highland scoring the second run of the game on a passed ball in a 1-3 effort with 2 RBIs, which ultimately made the difference.

Highland will return to the KCII3 stream with its next game on Monday night when it hosts the Hillcrest Ravens, with coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. 

Columbus will travel to Cardinal for a tournament on Saturday before playing the Ravens on Tuesday night at Hillcrest.