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MORRISDALE -- The eighth-seeded Portage softball team had top seed West Branch on the ropes several times during Monday's District 6 Class 1A quarterfinal as they had runners on second and third with either one or no outs on three occasions and had a runner on second with just one out on another.
But Lady Warrior ace Makena Moore was able to limit the damage to just one run, while stranding nine Portage base runners -- eight in scoring position --in a 4-1 Lady Warrior victory.
Moore was able to get out of all but one of the jams without giving up any runs by striking out 17 Lady Mustang batters. Ten of those strikeouts came with Portage runners in scoring position.
Meanwhile, West Branch got a couple clutch hits in a 3-run fourth-inning that made the difference.
"I know West Branch has faced some amazing teams and coming here as an eighth seed, we had nothing to lose," Portage head coach Makena Baumgardner said. "We played an amazing game and they did too. They got those clutch hits when they needed to and ours didn't fall when we needed them.
"Games like these you love to watch, you love to be a part of it. And watching these girls go all seven innings was fantastic to see."
The Lady Warriors scored one in the second inning as a pair of Portage errors allowed the first run cross the plate.
Portage tried to answer in the top of the third when Paige Phillips reached on a two-base outfield error, Lexi Slanoc walked and both runners were moved up on a Adasyn Trusik sacrifice bunt.
But Moore got the next two batters swinging at strike three to keep the Lady Mustangs off the board.
Portage pushed a run across in the fourth after Lyndsey Castel led off with a single that dropped between short and shallow center, and Payton Noll drilled a double over Lady Warrior centerfielder Mallory Graham's head.
But with runners on second and third and nobody out, Moore fanned the next two Lady Mustangs before walking Phillips on a full count. She had a 2-2 count on Slanoc when she uncorked a wild pitch to allow Castel to score to tie the game.
Moore struck out Slanoc on the next pitch.
Portage made noise again in the sixth when Noll and Sydney Castel led off with consecutive singles and Lily Koban moved both runners up with a sac bunt.
But once again, Moore recorded a pair of strikeouts to get out of trouble.
"That was the difference," Baumgardner said. "They had a couple that fell in and we didn't. (Moore) pitched amazing. She had that beautiful rise ball that got us in key situations. She kind of kept us in check a little more that I wanted, but I won't take any credit from her. She pitched amazing."
The Lady Mustangs got a leadoff single from Trusik in the seventh before Moore registered two more strikeouts. After a four-pitch walk to Lyndsey Castel put runners on first and second with two outs, Moore ended it with a strikeout of Noll, who had hits in her previous two at bats against the Lady Warrior ace.
Moore finished her 122-pitch performance with 17 strikeouts to go with three walks and five hits.
Phillips gave up six hits and struck out four in her six innings of work.
"She had good placement and put some good spin on the ball," Betts said of Phillips. She kind of kept us off balance a little bit. We had one inning where we got the bat on it well. And we had some hard hits right at them a few times during the game."
Portage ends its season with a record of 10-11.
"We were happy to be a part of the playoffs," Baumgarnder said. "I was so confident in this team and they really showed up the last couple of weeks to get us here. I couldn't be more proud of this team. The last game (against Bishop Carroll) and this game were the best games we could have played."
West Branch improved to 16-4. The Lady Warriors advance to play fifth-seeded Ferndale Friday at 4 p.m. at West Branch in the semifinals.
PORTAGE (1): Redfern cf 4000, Harrison lf 4000 L. Castel 3b 3110, Noll 1b 4020, S. Castel c 3010, Koban dp 2000, Phillips p 2000, Kunko cr 0000, Slanoc rf 2000, Trusik ss 2010, Boland (flex) 2b 0000. Totals: 26-1-5-0.
WEST BRANCH (4): Bainey 3b 3000, Ca. Wesesky 1b 3000, Gable c 3000, Moore p 3010, Ch. Wesesky cr 0200, K. MacTavish ss 3110, Royer 2b 3120, Graham cf 3010, Betts rf 2011, Butler lf 1000. Totals: 24-4-6-2.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Portage 000 100 0--1 5 2
West Branch 010 300 x--4 6 2
Errors--Harrison, Noll; Butler, Ca. Wesesky. LOB--Portage 9, West Branch 3. 2B--Noll; Moore. SAC--Trusik, Koban; Butler. SB--Redfern; Royer. WP--Phillips 2; Moore 1. Illegal Pitch--Phillips.
Pitching
Portage: Phillips--6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO.
West Branch: Moore--7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 17 SO.
WP--Moore . LP--Phillips.