Optimist moves past Joyce Dayton

The regular season champs were on the ropes.

They gave up the lead early in extra innings, so they needed to make a comeback if they wanted their season to continue.

They just wouldn’t let the year end there.

Top-seeded Optimist beat No. 4 seed Joyce Dayton 13-12 with a walk off in the sixth inning of the Portland Junior League Rookie softball semifinal game on Wednesday.

Optimist trailed 12-11 with three outs remaining, but only needed two batters to walk off Joyce Dayton.

Renlee Hummer and Adalyn Overla led the way for Joyce Dayton with four hits apiece. Hummer hit a triple and scored twice, while Overla had a pair of doubles and crossed home plate three times.

Annabelle Wiggins matched Overla with a team-high in runs scored at three. Wiggins added three singles as well.

Ivy Trinidad and Kaelyana Castillo both smacked doubles for Joyce Dayton. Trinidad also hit a single while scoring two runs.

Four more batters smacked two singles for Joyce Dayton in the loss.

Optimist’s win earned them a spot in the championship game against the winner of second-seeded REMC and third-seeded Wings and Rings.