Umbrellas opened around the diamond as Bailee Braunreuther wound up to pitch.
Dark clouds rolled in and rain pounded the field, delaying the tied game for an hour.
When the storm was over, the Wolves came back to the field, but lost the district playoff game to Waterford Mott in the ninth inning, 5-4.
‘It was an excellent game, two really great teams battling at it,? said Clarkston coach Don Peters after the game.
‘They had the balls bounce the right way for them in that last inning.?
The bases were loaded at the bottom of the ninth inning. Mott’s Kelsey Kleine hit a pitch from Braunreuther down the third base line to bring in a run, winning the spot to play Waterford Kettering for a position to play regionals.
‘I told them ‘I am really proud of you, you gave it all, all you have mentally and physically.? They played with all their hearts,? said Peters.
‘They worked really hard all season. Overcoming some adversity of some injuries at the beginning of the year, two to three girls out, starters with injuries and then regrouping going on to win the league championship and battled to the very end in the districts. I am very proud of them.?
Mott scored two runs in the first inning, but the Wolves came back to score three runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Mott tied the score in the sixth inning, 4-4.
Sarah Altene pitched for the first six innings. She pitched four runs, four hits, no earned runs, three walks, and five strikeouts.
Bailee Braunreuther pitched for the remainder of the game and threw out one run, three hits, an earned run, a walk, and a strikeout.
Leading hitters for the game were Katie Smith, Taylor Hasselbach, Altene, Shantel Uballe, and Brook Chadwell.
Smith hit a double and had a RBI; Hasselbach was 2-for-3 for the day and hit a double and one stolen base; Altene hit 2-for-3 and had one RBI and one stolen base. Uballe had one RBI. Chadwell hit 2-for-4 for the day.
Clarkston had six errors to Mott’s two errors. The errors brought in four un-earned runs for Mott while Clarkston earned their runs.
‘We saw some awesome catches and plays during the game,? said Jim Altene, statistician for the varsity softball team. ‘You could tell no one wanted to go home. Sarah and Bailee pitched as hard as they could.?
The team loses four seniors, but a lot of potential players coming up from freshmen, JV and even eighth grade levels, Peters said.
‘We have a bright future. We have a really, really bright future,? he said. ‘I told the seniors they built the foundation of what I think is going to be outstanding softball for Clarkston.?
The girls ended the season 23-16.