Staff photo / Joel Whetzel West Branch’s Skyler Greeneisen (13) begins to celebrate with her teammates after belting a walk-off, two-run home run against Howland on Friday. The Warriors outlasted the Tigers, 17-15, in 8 innings.

BELOIT — West Branch’s Skyler Greeneisen made sure to celebrate her birthday in style.

With the Warriors and Howland deadlocked at 15-all in the eighth inning, Greeneisen belted a two-run blast over the centerfield fence to lift West Branch to a 17-15 walk-off victory over the visiting Tigers on Friday evening in a wild game that featured 32 runs on 36 hits.

“I was just looking for that perfect pitch to just get on base,” explained Greeneisen, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and a pair of doubles. “I wasn’t even looking for a bomb or anything. We were coming out hot (in the eighth inning), and I wanted to keep it going. That’s all I was really looking for.”

West Branch (11-3) had raced out to a 10-0 lead through the first two innings, hanging four runs on Howland starter Alexia Spangler in the first inning and six on reliever Brooke Tatar in the second.

But the Tigers (9-5) roared back, plating seven runs in the third and six in the sixth in addition to a run each in the fourth and seventh innings.

Ryley Pittman, who pitched in relief beginning in the third inning, worked a three-up, three-down top of the eighth to give West Branch a chance to win in the bottom of the frame.

She then logged a one-out single to set up Greeneisen’s homer a batter later.

Pittman finished 5-for-6 with four RBIs and a pair of doubles, while Tori McKay and Addie Craven each notched three RBIs on three and two hits, respectively. Both of them doubled.

Still, Howland had answers of its own offensively. The Tigers racked up 16 hits, led by four from Madison Hufford. She, Alyssa Massucci, Tatar and Kayla Cambell each plated two RBIs, and the latter three each had a pair of hits. Hufford and Cloe Lopez doubled twice.

“Howland did a great job coming back,” said West Branch coach Jennifer Woods. “They outscored us 15-5 (after the initial 10-0 lead), and we got those runs in at the end. We didn’t quit, and Howland didn’t quit. I think it’s a great game getting ready for the tournament for both of us.”

It was the second day in a row Howland had tried to mount a furious rally after a hefty deficit early on. The Tigers trailed Ursuline 9-0 Thursday before ultimately falling short, 13-7.

Still, head coach Nicole Wayt is encouraged by her team’s resilience.

“I’m so proud of our girls,” she said. “We (coaches) have been waiting all season for (the players) to dig down and show us. We knew they had this in the beginning of the season; we’ve just been waiting for them to show us what they had. They showed us that today.”

Both teams were forced to get away from their original plan in the circle. Wayt said the Tigers were planning to alternate between Tatar and Spangler, while Woods noted the Warriors weren’t planning to have Pittman in the circle in the first place.

“We knew they (West Branch is) a powerhouse hitting team,” Wayt said. “We scrimmaged them, so we knew they’re a strong team. We played them last year, so our plan was to try and go back and forth between our pitchers to throw them off a little bit. But, we got into a groove, we dug down and seemed like we were throwing them off a little bit, so we stayed with what we were doing.”

Indeed, after giving up the six runs in the second, Tatar settled down and finished the game with 6.1 innings of work. She allowed 13 runs — only five of which were earned — on 16 hits and four walks. She struck out seven.

The Warriors, meanwhile, started with McKay, who worked 2.2 innings before Howland mounted its seven-run rally in the third. Pittman closed the game out with 5.1 innings of work, surrendering eight runs — seven earned — on nine hits and three walks. She fanned three.

“We really didn’t want to pitch Ryley today. She pitched yesterday and threw 130-some pitches,” Woods said. “But she came in and did a decent job. They hit her, too. They came out and they hit, we made a couple mistakes that they took advantage of. But we didn’t quit, and that’s one thing this team hasn’t done all year.”

With the regular season winding down over the next couple of weeks, Woods has her eyes set toward the tournament, and hopes the win will provide the Warriors with some momentum.

“This is going to help,” Woods said. “It wasn’t good that we got the big lead and let it go, but to not quit and stay with them, I think that’s going to be huge.”

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com