Wynn leads Falcons to title
MADISON - Haley Wynn couldn’t breathe.
All Saturday afternoon, the Whitnall junior had shut down Mosinee’s bats with an electric three-pitch mix through calmness and precision.
But there she was, at the bottom of a dog pile with a dozen of her teammates near the pitching circle at Goodman Softball Complex in Madison.
And she couldn’t breathe. Behind a one-run, two-hit gem from Wynn and some timely offense, the Falcons downed Mosinee, 3-1, in the Division 2 state title game to record Whitnall’s first softball state championship.
“It was just fun because everybody was feeling all the emotions that came with winning state,” Wynn said. “It was great because this was really a team game. Everyone had a role in this win and to see everyone happy was incredible.”
In some ways, the Falcons (26-5) went about their state-clinching win in the same fashion they did all year: with endless energy on the diamond and Wynn dealing on the rubber. It also was different. Whitnall relied on its powerful offense to mash past opponents throughout the season, entering state with a 1.034 OPS as a team. The Falcons, naturally, had to win a pair of pitchers’ duels to hoist the trophy.
“We can play any style,” Whitnall head coach Tom Hickman said. “I think we showed over the rest of the year that we can bash with the best of them and that we can play small ball a little. That’s what good teams have to do to win state championships."
Some small ball got the Falcons on the board to open the scoring in the fourth.
After narrowly missing a home run wide of the foul pole earlier in the atbat, senior Mackenzie Sutton drove a fly to deep right that popped in and out of the glove of Indians right fielder Courtney Claeys. Sutton wound up at third base on what was ruled a threebase error.
During a meeting in the circle for Mosinee, Hickman called the next batter, Abby Cunningham, over and asked his five-hole hitter if she was ready to bunt.
“Bunt?” Cunningham said inquisitively.
Hickman looked at the hitter with the second-best average on the team. “Bunt,” he said.
Cunningham got the squeeze bunt down and Sutton darted home to score as the throw went to first base.
By that point, it was no secret that runs would be at a premium. Wynn did not allow a hit until the fourth inning and had faced the minimum number of batters going back to the second inning of Friday’s 2-1 semifinal win over Portage.
The Indians couldn’t solve the junior right-hander, either.
Wynn allowed one unearned run on just two hits for a 0.50 ERA at state.
Wynn beat three state-ranked teams in the playoffs. Over the Falcons’ six postseason wins, Wynn pitched every inning, striking out 41 batters with an ERA of 1.00.
“Honestly, everything was working," Wynn said. “I was just so confident in how much work I put in during the off-season and knew that this is when it was supposed to pay off.”
Whitnall tacked on the eventual game-winning run following Cunningham’s squeeze in the fourth. Sophomore Elizabeth Vedbraaten lined a triple to right-center with two outs and then scored on senior Kathryn Bay’s RBI single.
“I had to completely get rid of my surrounding and focus on my catcher and the batter,” Wynn said. “I knew that the batter was the priority I just had to take a deep breath, step back and focus on me and my game.”
Wynn did just that, making the biggest pitch of her life.
Then she couldn't breathe.