Tervo Agency had jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the fourth inning, and appeared to have the game in hand before a five-run bottom of the fourth, which drew JB’s Sales and Service within a run at 8-7.

Perhaps the most important run for Tervo Agency came in the top of the fifth. Center fielder Mel Baker reached on a defensive error to lead off. Left fielder Alana Nolan then doubled to the left field fence, which brought Baker home.

Between that run, and Tervo Agency’s ability to rally when down to their final out of an inning, the pendulum swung back in their favor for the remainder of the contest.

“We are really good at rallying with two outs,” said Tervo Agency player-coach Danielle Thoune. “So when we got that ninth run, it just propelled everything else.”

Tervo Agency shortstop Josie Hembroff catches a fly ball from JB’s Sales and Service third baseman Kaelyn Rouleau during the Copper Country Women’s Fastpitch Softball title game Wednesday at the Boneyard in Lake Linden. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

In the second inning, Tervo Agency scored six runs, all of which came with two outs.

It started with a leadoff walk issued to first baseman Mallory Sporalski. Third baseman Kyllee Puuri singled to right field. She then stole second to put the two runners into scoring position. After right fielder Tatum Sporalski recorded the second out with a fly out, Baker tripled to the left field fence, scoring both Mallory Sporalski and Puuri. Nolan then singled to center field to score Baker. Shortstop Josie Hembroff reached first on a dropped third strike to keep the inning alive.

Second baseman Sarah Dowd doubled to the center field fence, scoring both Nolan and Hembroff. Pitcher Olivia Wakeham singled to deep center field to bring Dowd home. Two batters later, Wakeham was caught trying to score to end the inning.

“There’s some sort of magic that when we have two down, it fires us up,” said Thoune. “We did have that one fantastic game where we scored 12 of them, and had two down, so we didn’t have as good of an inning (tonight), but I think five of our runs that inning were scored with two down.

“That’s where we thrive, I guess.”

JB’s Sales and Service pitcher Lucy Biekkola prepares to deliver a pitch during the Copper Country Women’s Fastpitch Softball title game against Tervo Agency Wednesday at the Boneyard in Lake Linden. (Daver Karnosky/Daily Mining Gazette)

While everything, at that point, seemed to be going Tervo Agency’s way, the game turned, albeit briefly, in favor of JB’s in the bottom half of the fourth. Down 8-2 by that point, they needed a spark.

Pitcher Lucy Biekkola provided that spark, helping her own cause by reaching on a defensive error when she laid down a bunt to lead off. Second baseman Kia Markham followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Biekkola over to second. Center fielder Brynn Arko then doubled to center field, scoring Biekkola. Right fielder Cori Jahfetson followed with a single to center field and she made it to second on a defensive error. With two runners in scoring position, first baseman Stella Soumis tripled to the left field fence, scoring Arko and Jahfetson in the process. A passed ball allowed Soumis to score, drawing JB’s within two, 8-6.

Shortstop Clea Ollanketo walked. Third baseman Kaelyn Rouleau singled, and JB’s suddenly had runners on the corners. Rouleau stole second and catcher Kenzie Ekdahl drew a walk to load the bases.

Wakeham, visibly frustrated with how the inning was shaking out, then walked Biekkola, forcing Ollanketo home. Wakeham regrouped and struck out Markham to end the inning.

After the inning was over, Wakeham had to regroup, and she credited her teammates with lifting her up when she needed it most.

“Bases loaded always gets hard,” she said. “You start playing both the physical and the mental game, and, if they play the physical and mental game with you, it just becomes a little bit of a battle. You have to just lean on your team. You have to lean on each other, listen to their advice, and listen to them picking me up in the circle, so that I can one, get us out of that inning, and (two), they can back me up as well.”

From there, the only other run that JB’s could muster was a home run by Arko in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“My team kept me sane, man,” Wakeham said. “They kept me in it. I couldn’t have done it without them. I couldn’t have done it without their encouragement. They were backing me up in the field.”

Wakeham finished with five strikeouts over seven innings in earning the win.

Tervo Agency added to their advantage in the top of the sixth inning as another way of supporting Wakeham’s pitching. Catcher Aubrey Zackal got things started with a lead off single to left field. Puuri followed with a single. Tatum Sporalski sacrificed to move the runners into scoring position. Baker reached on a fielder’s choice, but Zackal was caught trying to score. After Nolan was hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded for Hembroff, who drew a walk from Biekkola.

With the bases still loaded, Dowd singled to deep center to score Baker and Nolan and push the lead to five runs, 12-7.

Baker factored into the win yet again in the game’s final at bats, as she caught fly balls hit by Soumis and Rouleau to end the game.

Biekkola struck out five in the loss.

REPEAT OFFENDERS

Both teams met in the championship game last season, with Tervo Agency making the improbable run to the title. This season, Tervo Agency entered the playoffs as the second seed, so the win felt less surprising.

“You know, this one I think they saw coming,” Thoune said. “Last year, we were last in line, and we did that Cinderella story, the guys called it last year. This year, we came in No. 2. We had to come in fighting, but we’re developing. We are gaining confidence, and we’re playing our game.”

Part of what makes Tervo Agency’s back-to-back victories impressive is that they have embraced an identity of being a team loaded with “misfit toys” as Thoune stated after Monday’s semifinal win over Superior National Bank.

Wakeham, who got the start in the pitcher’s circle in both playoff games this season, loves playing with her teammates.

“I love playing with this team,” she said. “I wouldn’t want to get the win with anybody else. I love my Tervo girls.

“They just want to have fun. They have so much fun. We’re like a big family, and then it’s just like, win or lose, we always have a good time. We’re always picking each other up. It’s just such a good experience to play with all these amazing women.”