By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

MILLBURY — Kali Bedford delivered a two-out, walk-off single with the bases loaded to help the Lake softball team capture a 14-13 win on Friday in a wild offensive showcase.

Lake (8-9, 2-4 NBC), which was coming off a 4-0 road win over Genoa on Thursday, avenged an earlier loss at Rossford and have now won three in a row.

“I think we are playing some of our best ball right now,” Bedford said. “We’ve really eliminated our errors and started working as a team the past few games.”

The Flyers jumped out to a 7-0 lead through two innings, highlighted by a six-run first inning that featured an RBI triple from Sophia Gruetter, an RBI single from Alayna Meadows, an RBI double from Ellie Rymers and a two-run single from Addy Boehm.

Boehm struck again with another RBI single in the second.

“I was proud of the way we started after an emotional win at Genoa yesterday,” Lake head coach Dave Rymers said. “(After the strong start), I think there was a little bit of a letdown, but Rossford is a good hitting team. They’ve got some good bats.”

Rossford responded to Lake’s strong start in the third, exploding for seven runs to tie the game. The rally started with a three-run blast from Scarlett Williams and also featured two-run singles from Caitlyn Extine and Layla Nowak.

“We keep fighting, but we still made a couple mental mistakes on the bases that we have to clean up, but I like our fight,” Rossford head coach Tom Kralovic said. “We had a chance to win. It’s just one of those things.”

Gruetter helped Lake quickly respond, utilizing an RBI groundout to give her team an 8-7 lead through three.

That helped set up eight combined runs in the fourth, which included four from each team.

Rossford got RBI singles from Ary Bond and Nowak, an RBI groundout from Extine and an RBI double from Camryn Almester.

Lake responded with an RBI single from Boehm, who later scored on a passed ball to pull the Flyers within one. Alivia King and Diem Isbell both followed with walks and came around to score on a passed ball and wild pitch, respectively.

“Momentum changed quickly, and I thought we fought through that,” Rymers said. “We fought through a little adversity, were able to score enough runs when it mattered, played enough defense when it mattered, threw enough strikes when it mattered and got the win.”

After neither team scored in the fifth and sixth innings, Williams had an RBI triple to set up an RBI double from Aubree Knudsen that gave Rossford a 13-12 lead.

In Lake’s half, Meadows reached on an error, advanced on a passed ball and scored on an error to tie the game. The Flyers proceeded to load the bases on three walks, which included one of the intentional variety.

Bedford’s game-winner then came on a ground ball up the middle.

“It felt really good,” Bedford said. “Coming off yesterday’s win, I think we were a little excited and then we got a little down. We had to work back up and be the team we knew we could be and push through with a win.”

Boehm led Lake offensively with a 3-for-4 performance with four runs knocked in, while Meadows also had three hits. Isbell added three walks and three stolen bases.

One big difference in the game saw Lake hold a 14-0 advantage in walks, led by four from Rymers.

Nowak batted 4-for-4 with three RBI and two runs to lead the Bulldogs, who had six extra base hits. Williams went 3-for-5 with three runs and four RBI out of the leadoff spot while Knudsen was 3-for-5 with a pair of runs. Extine chipped in three RBI.

“We made a great play against St. Ursula and ended up winning there,” Kralovic said. “I was hoping that would repeat itself here (at the end), but we just didn’t do it. Almost.”