DeForest walks off Oregon in regional softball opener

Playoff victories are sweet. But doing so in walk-off fashion in extra innings? That’s even sweeter.

And on Tuesday, May 26, the DeForest Norskies softball team did exactly that.

With Natalie Towns up to bat, the senior delivered a one-run, game-winning single in the bottom of the eighth to give DeForest, seeded No. 8 in Sectional No. 3 of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Division 1 state tournament, the 3-2 victory over visiting No. 9 seed Oregon in the regional semifinals.

Towns brought home fellow senior Reagan Oughton, who opened the bottom of the eighth with a single before advancing into scoring position, thanks to a sacrifice bunt from sophomore Sophia Bruno.

But before the Norskies’ late-game, extra-inning magic, they first had to crawl out of a one-run deficit.

Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, senior E’Mony Hardiman hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game back up at two apiece. Hardiman — who led the Norskies in RBIs with two — got the Norskies on the board in the bottom of the third thanks to a one-run single.

As a team, the Norskies’ bats had nine hits, including two hits apiece from Towns, Oughton, and sophomore Ashlyn Merk.

But what the Norskies did inside the circle was perhaps equally as impressive.

Reagan Oughton pitched all eight innings for DeForest. She allowed only five hits, resulting in two earned runs. She allowed one hit through the game’s final four innings, while the defense behind her didn’t commit a single error.

Senior Reagan Oughton pitched all eight innings for DeForest, allowing just two earned runs off five hits.

For DeForest, the Norskies were no strangers to Oregon, having already faced off twice before. The two Badger-Large foes split the season series, with DeForest taking the 4-2 victory in April and Oregon taking the 6-2 victory in May.

With the win, DeForest will hit the road in search of a regional championship. They will look to knock off the top-seeded team in their sectional, No. 1 seed Sun Prairie East (18-5), on Thursday, May 28, at Sun Prairie East High School.