Photo by Samantha Davis. The Wabasso softball team greets Ava Kodet (15) after scoring the game-tying run in the fourth inning against Yellow Medicine East Saturday afternoon in Marshall in the Section 3A quarterfinals. The Rabbits overcame a deficit to defeat the Sting 5-3 and advance to the section semifinals on Tuesday.

MARSHALL — In resilient fashion with a late offensive surge, the No. 1 Wabasso softball team overcame a three-run deficit over second-seeded Yellow Medicine East to prevail for a 5-3 win Saturday afternoon in Marshall to advance to the Section 3A semifinals.

YME scored its three runs promptly in the first inning and held its lead for four innings until the Rabbits found their momentum for two runs in the bottom of the fourth, before scoring another three in the fifth.

“Our goal was always to be one game at a time, and play the best we can for one game at a time,” Wabasso head coach Tiffany Eichten said. “I was really happy with the girls. We didn’t start off super strong right away, but they found a way to dial in and to not let them [YME] rile them up for the rest of the game.”

The Rabbits did not allow any YME runners on base in the final two innings to seal the comeback victory.

For the Rabbits, Macy Rohlik and Camryn Irlbeck led with two hits each, while Rohlik and Audrey Johnson each had doubles on the day.

Wabasso finished the game with six hits to YME’s five.

Aylah Jenniges pitched all seven innings, and finished with six strikeouts and two walks.

“Aylah has been great for us all year. I’ve been impressed with her,” Eichten said. “She has a great defense behind her, which helps her a ton. Like after that first inning, she still stayed composed. That’s huge as a pitcher, when we don’t have the best inning and for her to maintain composure on the mound.”

For the Sting, Bayli Sneller threw nine strikeouts and three walks in her six innings pitched.

Offensively for YME, Sneller, Ella Cherveny and Emma Keller each had one.

YME started out strong, setting the tone with a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Wabasso fought early struggles with defensive errors, and finished the game with four. The Sting recorded three errors.

“I think just getting to this game and there’s a few jitters … Sometimes it’s even us [coaches] just [needing to] dial in where we need to be and what we need to do,” Eichten said of the team’s challenges. “Sometimes, as coaches, we make mistakes like that, too. It’s like, ‘Let’s get closer to our catcher so she knows what’s going on,’ and we can relay the message with the rest of the team.”

Brianna Nelson scored off a Sneller ground ball, who reached first off a Wabasso fielding error.

Nelson first got on base with a ground ball, also safe off an error.

Cherveny ran home from third base with an Alana Almich sacrifice fly ball to left field, and Sneller accounted for the third run with an Keller RBI single.

Wabasso’s defense began to shine in the third inning with a double play off a force out at first base on a dropped-third strike and an immediate throw to third base to tag out YME attempting to steal.

The Sting also were performing well defensively to hold off the Rabbits, but Wabasso began to find its footing in the bottom of the fourth and didn’t let up.

“I just had to kind of think about what got us here, and how we got this far,” Eichten said regarding the team’s shift. “We just started to play our game a little bit more. The bench brought some serious energy, and that just wore off on the rest of the team. We’ve been talking all year about how important our bench is, and they really showed the importance of that throughout this game.”

Kayleigha Johnson made her way around the diamond with aggressive baserunning, stealing second base on a passed ball after she was initially walked, and stole home off another passed ball.

Irlbeck also got to third base off the same pitch that scored Johnson, who originally got a base hit off a bunt.

Irlbeck brought Wabasso within a 3-2 deficit scoring on an Alivia Olson sacrifice bunt before YME’s Sneller threw a strikeout for the final out.

The Rabbits got three quick outs with a pick-off at first base and a pair of infield plays in the top of the fifth to return back to the plate to take control of the game.

Johnson walked and made her way to third base off an Jenniges bunt, who also stole second. Ava Kodet went in to courtesy run for Johnson.

Kodet was the game-tying run with a Sara Carlson sacrifice bunt, and Rohlik gave Wabasso the lead, 4-3, off a Kayleigha Johnson RBI single.

Ultimately becoming the final score, Irlbeck hit a double ground ball out to left field to run in Johnson.

With the Sting up to bat in the top of the seventh in a need of two runs to tie, Wabasso ended the game with a pair of ground out plays and Olson caught a foul ball outside of the first base line.

“We really haven’t ever given up,” Eichten said. “We feed well off of each other’s energy, so as long as we keep the energy up. I love this team and the energy they bring.”

In a battle of the top-seeds, Wabasso (17-6) will face No. 1 Lac qui Parle Valley (19-4) on Tuesday in the semifinal at 4:30 p.m. at the Marshall complex. The winner will advance to the section championship.

The loser will drop to the elimination bracket final, and will play the winner of YME and Edgerton/Southwest Minnesota Christian for the other spot in the title game.

Wabasso and LQPV have not yet met this season. The Rabbits have made their way through the section tournament with an 11-1 win over Russell-Tyler-Ruthton and 4-0 shutout over BOLD before Saturday’s matchup against the Sting.

The Eagles defeated Dawson-Boyd 8-2 in the first round, followed by an 8-0 win over MACCRAY and 2-1 victory over E/SWC on Saturday.

Wabasso is on the hunt to return to the section championship for the third year in a row, falling to E/SWC in 2023 and RTR last season.

“We’re going to go into Tuesday looking forward to playing our best ball again,” Eichten said. “Like I said, it’s one game at a time and one day at a time.”