(Lander, WY) – The visiting Lady Broncs of Cody jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning behind their only two hits of the game, a pair of singles, but combined with a walk and a couple of errors, it looked to be enough for the win in Lander’s inaugural softball opener.
But the Lady Tigers had other plans.
“That was really fun. I knew we could do it. It was awesome,” Lander head coach Kaycee Prevedel said. “The first inning was a little rough. It was to be expected.”
Cody bumped their lead to 5-0 in the top of the fourth inning, but Lander showed a little spark in the bottom half of the inning.
Kate Gallinger reached on a single, then stole second base, and then stole third to move into scoring position. She put the Lady Tigers on the board for the first time in school history in a home softball game when the Cody catcher lost the ball.
It was the spark Lander was looking for.
Cody went down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth with right fielder Kennedy Brown catching a fly ball, followed by first baseman Izzy Musalem fielding a ground ball. Gallinger struck out the third Cody batter to end the inning.
The bottom of the fifth was an offensive explosion by the Lady Tigers.
Kylie Gallinger opened with a double to left field, followed by a Brown walk. Lizzy Gribowskas came in to pinch run for Gallinger and stole third base.
Gribowskas scored on a wild pitch while Arya Ghormley moved to a full count before striking out swinging for Lander’s first out.
Lander loaded the bases with Savana Martell and Brena Metzler both taking walks. Martell and Brown scored on errors by the Cody right fielder and their first baseman to move the score to 5-4.
Now with two outs after Musalem went down swinging, the Lady Tigers took the lead when Kate Gallinger scored on an error at first, and Metzler stole home.
The icing on the cake came with a single swing by Kylie Gallinger that drove the ball over the center field fence for a three-run homer. Aspen Darr and Rosa Ramos trotted home ahead of Gallinger for the final 9-5 win.
CODY 4 0 0 1 0 0 – 5 2 5
LANDER 0 0 0 1 8 X – 9 4 6
Lander – Brenna Metzler 0-1, Kate Gallinger 1-3 S, Aspen Darr 0-3, Izzy Musalem 0-3, Rosa Ramos 0-3, Kylie Gallinger 2-3 HR 2B, Lizzy Gribowskas 0-0, Dani Snetcher 0-1, Kennedy Brown 0-1, Arya Ghormley 1-2 2B, Cambree Metzler 0-1, Savanna Martell 0-0. Totals 4-21
Cody – Amelia Reinker 0-3, Skye Nielsen 0-1, McKenna Kondelis 1-3 S, Evely Augedahl 0-3, Bell Beacher 0-3, Izzie Claus 0-0 , Jaida Brice 1-3 S, Grace Gordon 0-0 , Sydney Simone 0-3, Emmay Barton0-2, Mandy Torczon, 0-2. Totals 2-23
WP – Kylie Gallinger (2.1) 3K, 0H, 0BB, Kate Gallinger (3.1) 2K, 2H, 3BB
LP – Skye Nielsen (4.1) 7K, 3H, 4BB