Kally Behens fastball popped, her change up bit and her riser rose past one Granite Falls batter after another.
Behen struck out all three hitters she faced in the top half of the first inning to begin what would be a spectacular night on the mound. However, she did not receive much help behind her. The Lakewood defense bobbled a number of ground balls allowing Granite Falls to sneak off with a 3-2 victory.
In the second inning a misplayed grounder allowed the first Granite Falls runner to reach base. A bunt advanced her to second base and a soft single to right field brought her home.
Behen reached back and got Lakewood out of the inning after only allowing the one unearned run.
The Cougars bounced back in the bottom half of the inning as catcher Becca Bean led off with a solid single up the middle. Then left fielder Anna Work laid down a sacrifice bunt which was misplayed by the Granite Falls catcher. The catcher hurried a throw to first and wound up tossing it well wide of the first baseman. A hustling Bean scored all the way from first as the ball rattled around right field foul territory. Work ended up on third base and later scored on a ground ball out to put the Cougars ahead 2-1.
That would finish the scoring for the Cougars as the bats fell silent the rest of the game. Behen kept the Granite Falls hitters at bay for two more innings but got unlucky in the fifth due to more Lakewood errors. The Granite Falls leadoff hitter reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Brienne Steward. The next batter tripled off Behen, the only solid contact Granite Falls would make all night. With the score knotted at 2-2, Behen buckled down again but could not prevent the runner on third from scoring on an infield ground out.
In the fifth inning, Behen finally got some help behind her in the form of a Willie Mays-style basket catch by shortstop Kahlee Barrio. Barrio raced out into shallow left field and caught a tricky pop-up over her shoulder without looking back toward the ball. It proved to be too little, too late.
The Cougars gained some momentum in the bottom half of the seventh inning when a lead off single and stolen base produced a runner in scoring position. But the Cougars could not knock that run in as pinch-hitter Katherine Dietz struck out on a questionable call to end the game.
Afterwards Lakewood coach Steve Barker said, Its always disappointing to lose, but Im not disappointed in the girls. Granite Falls is a tough team and we battled them the whole way.

At Lakewood

G F 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
LHS 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

Granite Falls Hits: 5, Errors: 2.
Lakewood Hits: 5, Errors: 5.