Walk-off hit gives Trojans, 9-8 win over Tosa East in regional opener

Amy Matzen's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh gave Wauwatosa West a thrilling 9-8 win over Wauwatosa East at Whitman Field Tuesday night in the WIAA Regional opener.

With the scored tied at 8-8, Michele O'Rourke, the winning pitcher, was safe on the third baseman's error. Tosa East's Ann Michna then fanned the next hitter, but Cara Gaines singled to center moving pinch-runner Martha Schuster to second.

Matzen, a righthanded batter, then hit a ground ball down the first base line and into rightfield. Schuster was waved home and beat the throw to the plate.

Michna's RBI single gave East a 1-0 lead in the first, but West answered on a two-run homer by Sam Himmelspach to right center and Alison Coppersmith later scored on an error by the left fielder.

East tied the game at 3-3 in the second on RBI singles by Sarah Nilsen and Carley Murphy. The Red Raiders then added three runs for a 6-3 lead in the third on a two-run single by Brittany Gottschalk and an RBI single by Nilsen.

But the Trojans came back to tie the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the third, as the Red Raiders' defense came apart and two runs scored on an error and a third on a passed ball.

Gottschalk then smashed a two-run homer in the fifth for an 8-6 lead for East before West tied it in the bottom of the sixth on a triple by Matzen, an RBI single by Katy Schmutzer, who moved to third on a SB and a passed ball and a single by Himmelspach scoring Schmutzer and setting up the final inning heroics.

The Trojans will now face the sectional's top seeded team - Homestead (18-3) at Homestead at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday.