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Rally of the Week: Rice Lake's Cardiac Kids lead the way to state softball title

06/13/2017, 2:00pm CDT
By Travis Wilson

It took not one, but two extra innings rallies for the Rice Lake softball team to secure a Division 2 state championship, the team's first since 2004.

In a semi-final showdown against Kewaskum, the Warriors found themselves down 4-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning, but took advantage of some Kewaskum mistakes to tie things up and force extra innings.

Kewaskum plated a run in the top half of the eighth inning, but Rice Lake would rally once again. The Warriors loaded the bases with one out, when Emily Fell drilled a single into right-center that plated two runs for a thrilling 6-5 walk-off win.

"Honestly, I don't even remember hitting the ball," Fell told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. "I was just thinking, 'Oh my gosh'."

Rice Lake had to re-group quickly, taking on Beloit Turner in the Division 2 championship game. The Warriors would hold leads of 5-0, 8-2, and heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, led 9-5, but Turner scratched across four runs to tie things up and once again send it to extras.

But once again, Rice Lake came through in the clutch, scoring four runs in the top half of the eighth inning before Fell stepped into the circle to record the final three outs of the game and the state championship.

“We’re all best friends and always pushing each other harder and staying after practice working our tails off and sweating,” shortstop Brooke Scheurer told the Leader-Telegram. "We just go out there on the field working our hardest.”

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