STOCKTON — Lindsey Walljasper woke up with the fever on Thursday.
The Sierra High sophomore hurler had 101 degree temperature and wasn’t certain she’d play in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoff tournament at Arnais Field.
“I didn’t want to let my teammates down,” said Walljasper, who more than gutted it out against Lindhurst and Bear River.
The latter was a 6-3 extra inning win. Down 3-1, Bear Creek rallied in the bottom of the seventh, tying the game on Katelynn Maddux’s two-run bloop single.
Walljasper, who held the opposition in check through most of the game — at one point she retired 11 batters in order — helped get those runs back in the eighth.
“My seniors came through,” said Timberwolves coach Vic DeAnda.
Catcher Julianna DeAnda scorched a one-out double, breaking the 3-3 tie on Walljasper’s run-scoring double to left field.
Walljasper moved to third Madisin Penner’s bunt single.
“We noticed a few overthrows on the toss (from catcher) to the pitcher,” she said.
That’s when Walljasper broke for the plate, scoring to give his team a 5-3 edge.
Penner was also aggressive on the base path, reaching home on a passed ball.
Sierra (15-4) took a 1-0 lead in the first thanks to Desiree Mejias’ lead-off single. She eventually scored on a grounder delivered by Kendelle Messersmith.
The Timberwolves added two more in the fifth. Mejias singled, advanced in to scoring position on Devi Coglio’s double.
Bear River miscues helped Sierra to a 3-0 edge
The Timberwolves saw their lead slip away only to rally back.
TIMBERWOLVES 6, LINDHURST 1
Sierra hammered out 11 hits in the opener, providing Walljasper with ample run support.
The Timberwolves trailed 1-0 from the outset only to strike back with a pair of runs on four hits in the home half of the first.
Legacy Barnes had one-out single and, following Kendelle Messersmith’s flair to right, fought her way out of a pickle to make it safely to third, with Messersmith scrambling to second on the play.
Barnes tied the game at 1-1, scoring on DeAnda’s RBI single.
Walljasper then lifted a high fly into the outfield that got swept by the strong gusts, falling safely in to score Messersmith.
The Timberwolves tacked on two more in the third. Messersmith had a lead-off single, scooting to second on a passed ball. After an infield hit by Walljasper, she scored on Penner’s nicely executed sacrifice bunt.
Sierra returns to Arnaiz Field today to face Casa Robles at 5 p.m.
