AKRON — For the second game in a row it appeared as if a home run was going to decide the outcome.
As it turned out, errors were the reason the Division III state tournament semifinal Thursday ended the way it ended. West Liberty-Salem made them. Wellington took advantage of them.
Wellington scored two unearned runs, one in the bottom of the seventh inning and one in the eighth, to beat West Liberty-Salem 2-1 and advance to Saturday’s state championship game.
The Dukes pulled it out just in time. Haleigh Hickenbottom’s homer in the top of the seventh broke up a beautiful pitcher’s battle between Melanie Conklin and the Tigers’ Emily Kauffman. With the back of the batting order coming up for Wellington, prospects of extending the season looked bleak.
In the previous game, a Division IV contest, a grand slam in the bottom of the 10th let Triad knock off Warren John F. Kennedy.
But Hickenbottom’s solo shot went for naught. Kauffman retired the first two batters and induced Brooke Lewis to hit a slow roller to second base.  Shae Blake had trouble picking up the ball and Wellington had life. Conklin tied the score with a triple on a 1-0 pitch that sailed over the head of Brittany Mayse.
Callie McConnell struck out to lead off Wellington’s eighth, but a passed ball let her reach first. Melissa Sawyer sacrificed McConnell to second before Amy Rader struck out.
Christy King hit a hard shot to third that Sami Konkle fielded but threw high to first to permit McConnell to score and put the Dukes in their first-ever championship game.
“I got to get a hit,” King said when asked what she was thinking on her ground ball. “I just have to get (McConnell) home. I was running hard hoping to be safe. When I saw the error, I said ‘Please, God, let Callie come home and be safe.’”
“I didn’t even see (the error),” McConnell said, adding that she was waved home by coach Tom Roth. “I just thought I’d better get my wheels going.”
Wellington (23-4) will meet Hebron Lakewood, a 5-0 winner over Elmwood, at 12:30 p.m.  West Liberty-Salem, ranked No. 2 in the state, ended its season 31-2.
“I hope Saturday’s easier,” Roth said. “I thought we were in a little trouble because we had runners on base and they were able to get out of trouble.”
Wellington’s best chance to break up the scoreless tie came in the fifth inning when the Dukes loaded the bases with one out. Melissa Rennie hit a high fly ball to shallow center field that Devon Woodruff caught. Pinch runner Madison Pickworth attempted to score from third, but Woodruff’s throw to the plate was on the mark to catcher Hickenbottom, who tagged Pickworth’s leg before it got to the plate.
Hickenbottom, who struck out in her two other plate appearances, drilled a 2-2 pitch over the left-center-field fence.
“That’s the worst feeling for a pitcher,” Conklin said. “It was a low moment because it was all me. No one else could do anything about it.”
It was in the bottom of the seventh that Conklin did something about giving up the home run.
“Luckily, Mel gave it up on defense and got it back on offense,” Roth said.
“I just swung as hard as I could at the best pitch I could find,” Conklin said. “I hoped it would go over the fence, but I was just trying to drive it somewhere. I knew Brooke was fast.”      
The Tigers’ Abbey Ledford reached base on a two-out walk in the eighth, but was cut down by Sawyer’s throw to Lewis on a steal attempt.
Wellington left six runners stranded through the first six innings. The Tigers had three left on base before Hickenbottom’s homer.
Contact Steve Byrne at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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