WELLINGTON — Hillsdale scored early and held on late.
The second-seeded Falcons built a comfortable six-run lead only to see it all but vanish in a 6-5 win over No. 7 Keystone in the Division III Wellington district semifinal game at Rec Park.
The Falcons (22-3) will play sixth-seeded Tuslaw for a district championship at 5 p.m. Thursday in Wellington. Tuslaw topped No. 3 Manchester 4-3 in Tuesday’s late game.
Hillsdale jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Jordyn Fickes beat out a one-out infield single and moved to third on Mollie Goon’s double. Clean-up hitter Belle Dalton followed with a three-run home run to left on the first pitch she saw from Keystone starter Bristol Foster.
The Falcons added a run in the third and two more in the fourth for a 6-0 lead.
The Wildcats scored two in the fifth and three more in the sixth to make it 6-5. Kennedy Fickes came on in relief of starter Keira Filius to work the seventh and retired the side in order to preserve the win.
Goon and Jordyn Fickes led Hillsdale with two hits apiece. Goon scored twice and drove in a run, while Fickes added an RBI.
Keira Filius picked up the win for Hillsdale. She worked the first six innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits while striking out eight. Kennedy Fickes earned the save.
Brooklyn Wise, organ Owca and Jalyn Owca each had two hits for Keystone.