Stateline Fury rallies for fourth win in tournament

By Bob Balgemann
Reporter
The Stateline Fury 18U Wilder summertime softball team had a rematch with the Central Wisconsin Voodoo in the McHenry tournament and won, giving them a total of four victories over the weekend.
First off on Sunday they had another nail-biter, this one against the host Heatwave that resulted in a 9-8 victory.
McHenry jumped off to a 6-0 lead after two innings only to see Stateline battle back into a 6-6 tie in the top of the fourth.
Once again, the Fury put lots of runs on the scoreboard – five of them to be precise – after two were out. That outburst came in the top of the third inning and was led by Harlem graduate Kristin Fudge, who kept things going with a single. Falisha Teubert singled, as did Addy Wilder, with Wilder’s hit scoring Fudge and Teubert to make it a 6-2 game.
Another single scored Wilder, then a two-run homer brought the Fury to within one, at 6-5.
It was back and forth from then on out, with Stateline tying the game in the top of the fourth on an RBI single – again after two had been retired.
McHenry regained the lead, 7-6, in the last of the fourth. But the Fury bounced back with a three-spot in the top of the fifth.
Teubert led off with a single and Addy Wilder reached on a fielder’s choice, eventually scoring on a second fielder’s choice to recreate the deadlock, 7-7. Stateline didn’t stop there, however, with a sacrifice fly and yet another two-out single producing a 9-7 lead.
The Heatwave made it interesting by scoring once in the bottom of the fifth and had the tying run on base, but a flyball to center field ended the game.
Addy Wilder went 1-for-3 for Stateline, scoring two runs and driving in a pair. Fudge was in the leadoff position again, going 1-for-3 with one run scored. Teubert went 2-for-3 and scored once.
Loss, win
In the middle game, the Devils Fastpitch team from southeastern Michigan silenced Stateline bats in taking a 5-0 victory. Bailey Wilder, Addy Wilder and Teubert collected three of the Fury’s five base hits.
Stateline didn’t have many scoring opportunities. There were two walks in the second inning and Addy Wilder doubled with two out in the fifth.
Sunday’s final game was another close one with the Fury having a rematch with the Central Wisconsin Voodoo and prevailing, 9-6. The Voodoo held leads of 2-0 and 6-4 before Stateline scored five times in the top of the fifth inning to take the win.
Addy Wilder got the Fury going in the fourth with a one-out double and eventually scored on a single. An RBI base hit and steal of home gave Stateline a 3-2 advantage. Then a delayed double steal produced a 4-2 lead.
Down 6-4 after the Voodoo scored four times in the last of the fourth, Stateline exploded for the aforementioned five runs in the fifth. The game ended at that point because of a tournament time limit.
Fudge once again was in the middle of a Stateline rally, this time collecting an RBI single to bring her team within one run. She and Teubert, who singled, scored a short time later to regain the lead for the Fury, 7-6. Another RBI single and an error plated the eighth and ninth runs for Stateline.
Central Wisconsin made it interesting in the bottom of the fifth when it pulled to within one run. But the Fury turned a double play to end the game.
Bailey Wilder pitched the first two innings of the game, but did not figure in the decision.