North has been looking for a spark all season long, and the Rangers may have found it with a walk-off win over rival South on Wednesday.

Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Bailey Licht roped a game-winning single to right field to seal North’s 6-5 win over visiting South.

“It was fun,” said North coach Matt McPeek. “The kids played hard. They were inspired. I could see it in Bailey’s face tonight, she was not going to let us lose this game.”

Maddy Ferrari doubled to start the Ranger eighth, and Brynne Smith singled, putting runners at the corners for Licht.

“First, hats off to both Maddy and Brynne for setting the table for me,” Licht said. “Maddy came inches away from a walk-off home run that turned into a double to start off the bottom of the eighth, and then Brynne, playing on a hurt foot, gets a big hit to move Maddy over to third. With nobody out, my focus was to drive the first good pitch I saw to the outfield, and it just happened to be the first pitch I saw. It was a very satisfying victory, and I’m just super proud of the team effort today.”

North struck first with two runs in the bottom of the first.

Gianna Latini hit a leadoff single, and Ferrari doubled her to third. Smith followed with an RBI double, and Ferrari scored on Licht’s groundout.

The Rebels answered with four runs in the top of the third.

Linell Dichazy singled to start the rally, and she scored on an error with one out in the inning. Violet Dichazy and Summer Bliss drew back-to-back walks, loading the bases, and an error allowed all three runners to score, giving South a 4-2 lead.

The Rangers tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth.

Licht hit a one-out double, and Sarah Avery singled. Melanie Okerwall followed with a two-run single that tied the game at 4-4.

North took the lead with one run in the bottom of the sixth.

Latini started the rally with a single, and Licht drew a two-out walk. Avery then singled to center, allowing Latini to score the go-ahead run.

The lead was short-lived as South scored a run on an error in the top of the seventh to force the extra inning.

Licht led the Rangers at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance that included a double, a run scored, and two RBI. Most importantly, she delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth.

“After the game-winning hit, the celebration and excitement on my teammates’ faces will be a lasting memory for me,” she said. “The fact that it was against our rival South, makes it that much sweeter. They’re a solid team and we’re already looking forward to the rematch in May.”

Latini, Ferrari, Smith, and Avery collected two hits each, and Okerwall finished 1-for-3.

Licht went the distance in the circle. She allowed five unearned runs on six hits and struck out six.

“Early on, I didn’t have my best off-speed stuff, and they were getting good contact off me,” Licht said. “As I settled in, my change-up and curveball started to come around and that helped keep them off balance. Give credit to our defense as well today. We’re missing a key player in Ashley Sykes, but we had girls step up and make some big plays in the outfield. Mel tracked down a couple of fly balls that could have very easily been hits with runners on.”

North travels to Mayfield on Friday.