Softball: Wausau Post 10 shares regional championship with Merrill and earns a spot in next week's state tournament.

After three games on Tuesday (all broadcast live on Wausau Area Sports), the Wausau American Legion Post 10 softball team knows there will be more softball to be played next week. The Patriots earned a spot in next week's state tournament in Merrill by sharing the regional championship with Merrill. A scheduled winner take all regional final scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled due to a medical emergency involving a family member of the Merrill team. That game would have had no impact on the teams qualifying for state.

Tuesday's action started with the completion of a suspended winners bracket game from Monday between Wausau and Merrill. Merrill would earn a spot in the championship round with a 9-4 win. On Monday the game was stopped in the top of the 2nd inning when the sirens went off for a tornado warning with Merrill leading 2-0. Wausau took the lead in the top of the 3rd inning with 3 runs. Jenna Graveen had an RBI single with other runs coming on a Merrill error and a successful double steal. However, Merrill immediately responded with a 5 run bottom of the third to take the lead for good. Tenley Weix and Olivia Barker had RBI hits in the inning and two more runs came in on an error. Emmie Steinagel went 5 innings in the circle to earn the win for Merrill.

Wausau was then forced into an elimination game against Shawano with the winner earning the second slot from this regional to the state tournament with the loser having their season end. Wausau made sure there was very little drama by starting the game with 8 consecutive hits and scored 9 runs in the top of the 1st inning. Wausau then added 10 more runs in the 2nd and went on to win 20-1 in three innings. Jenna Graveen was 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Kaylen Majewski, Carlie Kluz, Taylor Deffner, and Maddie Jankowski each added two hits and Jaidyn Calmes drove in 3 runs for Wausau.

That win put Wausau into the championship round with Merrill in the final game of the night and the Patriots' bats stayed hot in a 17-6 win in five innings. Taylor Deffner got Wausau off to another fast start with a 3-run Homer over the left field fence in the top of the 1st inning. Merrill again responded quickly with 5 runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Wausau took the lead for good with a 6 run explosion in the top of the 2nd. Carlie Kluz had a two run single as part of the inning with Wausau taking a 9-5 lead. For the second straight game, Wausau would scored in each inning with 2 runs in the third, five more in the 4th (with Deffner hitting a 3 run double to spark the outburst) and 1 final run in the 5th. Deffner finished 2 for 3 with 6 RBI, Jaidyn Calmes was 2 for 2 with 3 RBI, Carlie Kluz 2 for 3 with 3 RBI and Breanne Bushong had 3 hits as well. Kaylen Majewski pitched a complete game to earn the win in the circle.

Both Wausau and Merrill will next complete at the state tournament at the MARC in Merrill next Friday through Sunday, July 31st to August 2nd. Wausau will begin the tournament next Friday at 10 am and each Wausau game at state will be broadcast live on the Wausau Area Sports YouTube channel.