Wawasee’s Faith Swihart lays down a bunt in the first inning of the sectional game against Fairfield. Wawasee couldn’t hold a 2-0 lead in its eventual 6-2 season-ending loss. (Photos by Mike Deak)

BENTON – The scripts flipped quickly Wednesday night at the Fairfield Softball Sectional.

All of the pressure Wawasee put on Fairfield in the first inning went away, only for Fairfield to overcome and knock out the defending sectional champs in a 6-2 result in the second game of the Class 3-A sectional.

Wawasee’s Bethany Flannery reacts after a first-inning RBI.

A walk and two Fairfield mishandles on Wawasee smallball allowed the Lady Warriors to take a shocking 2-0 lead right away in the first. Ava Rush opened the inning with a walk, and an error by pitcher Sara Shank on the bunt by Faith Swihart put Wawasee in business. Rather than using conventional wisdom, Wawasee head coach Mike Barger had both his big bats – Graceanne Kerlin and Bethany Flannery – bunting to force Fairfield’s hand. The result was two runs as the Falcons made another error and was late on a throw home, hanging two runs on the board.

The key moment in the inning, however, was Wawasee leaving runners on second and third with no outs and just the two runs.

If there was any momentum coming out of the inning for Fairfield, it was Shank limiting the damage.

“I felt like if we could get the ball in play, they will make mistakes, and that was exactly what we did in the first inning,” said Barger. “We got the ball in play, they made some mistakes, and we energized from it. I spoke to them before we left the school. We are going to strike early, no failure, give it everything you’ve got. And we did. In between the lines, we left it out there.

“As soon as I walked off the field, I said two runs aren’t going to win this game. I knew that. I knew those two runs sitting out there were really, really important. I said I want four in the first inning. Well, we left two out there and got two in.”

Fairfield would counter with all six of its runs scored with two outs.

Kiaundra Olson delivers for Wawasee.

In the bottom of the second, Morgan Sanchez and Shank each singled and came around to score when Krista Wagler hit a ball to second that Amanda Jenkins couldn’t corral.

In the third, Bobby Freese opened with a double, but was standing on third with two outs. A bomb by Kinsey Miller hit the base of the fence, driving in Freese to put Fairfield on top 3-2. After Natalie Garber walked and Sanchez singled to load the bases, Shank once again helped her cause with a rope right between the legs of Wawasee pitcher Kiaundra Olson. A misplay in center by Danielle Jenkins allowed Sanchez to come all the way around to score.

At 6-2, it was a totally different ballgame.

“It was a curveball outside that didn’t do anything but stay in the middle of the plate,” Barger said of the pitch Shank drove into center. “It’s a freshman on the mound and one pitch here changes the game. It really does. I’m not going to fault her. It’s nothing to hang her head about. She’s ready to get after it already tomorrow. Those girls are trying to figure out what they are doing tomorrow.”

Shank also looked like a totally different pitcher after recovering from the first. Finishing the complete game, Shank allowed just three hits and a walk, both runs in the first unearned. This coming a night after one-hitting Tippecanoe Valley and providing the game-winning RBI in a 1-0 final.

Olson was touched up for 10 hits and five earned in her complete game, striking out just one.

Fairfield (20-7) moves onto the championship game opposite Northeast Corner Conference rivals Lakeland (14-11-1), which  shut out West Noble (3-17) 7-0 in the day’s first game. Wawasee bows out of the state tournament at 8-17 overall.

Fairfield pitcher Sara Shank pitches against Wawasee. After a rocky first inning, Shank was nearly unhittable in sending the Falcons to the championship game.