SEWARD — Sophomore Dalaney Anderson and her coach Shawn Carr are neighbors.
They won’t be short on driveway chatter this weekend.
Anderson smacked a walk-off RBI hit to center field to lift Class B No. 8 Seward to a wild 12-11 comeback win against ratings contender Waverly on Thursday night at Plum Creek Park.
Seward was up 10-5 heading into the final frame but found itself trailing 11-10 after Waverly junior Riley McCall, playing in her first game with the Vikings, capped a six-run rally with a two-out, three-run shot.
It didn’t take long for the Bluejays to put it behind them.
They got their first two baserunners on in the bottom of the seventh, and tied the game at 11-11 on Brooke Meyer’s liner to right field. A batter later, Anderson delivered the winning hit to get Seward off on a strong note.
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“She was kind of pressing all night,†Carr said. “I said, ‘Lane, take a deep breath, square one up.’ She got her pitch, squared it up and here we are.â€
Both teams showed they have the offensive firepower to win a bunch of games this season.
Waverly finished with 16 hits, including five in the seventh-inning rally. Seward had 11 hits, including three homers.
The first two came off the bat of senior outfielder and leadoff hitter Jordyn Collins. Both blasts came on Collins’ first two at-bats.
Her homers highlighted a strong offensive output for the Bluejays, who scored the first four runs, then trailed 5-4 before rattling off six unanswered runs.
Most of those came in a five-run fifth inning when the Bluejays sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five on two hits and two errors. Collins was a factor in the fifth, too. She scorched a ball toward the third baseman and reached on an error. Two runs scored on the play.
Carr credited Collins’ power breakout to an adjustment she made during pregame batting practice.
“It was just a small tweak and it’s not a credit to me, we just talked about it,†Carr said. “She tweaked it and took two swings and she’s like, ‘Dude, that feels great.’
“The first pitch (on the first homer), she gets to second base and she’s got a grin in her eyes.â€
Seward entered the season with a big void to fill at pitcher. Sydney Parra occupied the circle for multiple seasons and helped lead the Jays to multiple state appearances.
With players like Collins, Claire Geidel, Jayden Fernau, Anderson and Lauryn Parra back, the offense was not a question mark, but a strength.
That showed Thursday night. The Bluejays (1-0) put together several strong at-bats.
Stepping in in Sydney Parra’s place is Hannah Benedict, an athletic right-hander who also starts at point guard for the Seward basketball team. Carr said Benedict battled strong all night.
Waverly coach Beth Singleton said she was happy with the way her team fought back in the seventh inning. Five consecutive hitters reached base safely with two outs to position the Vikings for a win.
“We’ve talked about having to be a tough team, wanting toughness to be one of the hallmarks of our team,†said Singleton, who is in her first season as Waverly coach. “I think they showed a lot of that. A lot of what we did on defense, giving up some runs, we can clean that up, and it was good to see that they got the will to win in them.â€
Macy Steckelberg and Tenley Kozal each had three hits for the Vikings (0-1).