The Wayland girls’ softball team captured its ninth Division 2 regional championship Saturday afternoon at Hope College, defeating Hudsonville Unity Christian 7-3 in the finals after downing Forest Hills Eastern 11-1, in six innings .
The Lady Wildcats, now 26-10for the season overall, now move on to the quarterfinals Tuesday at Davenport University, where they will take on Vicksburg, which sports an overall record of 34-8.
Hudsonville Unity blanked Spring lake 5-0 in its regional opener.
The Lady Wildcats erupted for a three-run rally in the fourth inning of the finals to break a scoreless deadlock and never trailed. They were up 6-2 going into the sixth.
Leading the Wildcats offensively were Taylor Bell (2-3), Cait Bronson (2-4 with a double) and winning pitcher Abby Merice (2-4).
In the mercy rule-shortened victory in the regional semis, Sydney Urben went 3-3 with a double, Bethany Teunissen 3-4 with a double and a triple, and Chanlyn Commons 2-4.
