When the Sectional rolls around the philosophy is pretty simple, win and advance.

The Chesterton Trojans did just that Wednesday night with a 5-4 victory over Valparaiso that ended in one of those strange plays you just never see.

With Valpo’s Baylee Williams standing on second base and representing the tying run after an RBI double, Haley Leuthart hit a ground ball at Chesterton shortstop Jaren Lynch.

Williams ran directly in front of the freshman shortstop causing the ball to bounce past her into the outfield. Immediately the base umpire held out his right arm in a closed fist to signal interference.

As Leuthart was safe at first, Williams crossed home plate with what appeared to be the tying run. A brief conference between the umpires resulted in Williams being called out for interference, ending the game.

“He called obstruction first,” Chesterton coach LouAnn Hopson said. “He got a little confused, but made the right call and did it immediately. This is 26 years (as a coach) and I’ve never had a game end like that.”

After Chesterton starter Krista Bottos set down the Vikings 1-2-3 in the first, the Trojan bats came alive against Valpo ace Casey Crozier.

Sam Gross started the inning with a single, but was erased on a caught-stealing. After a strikeout, Kelci Garcia drew a walk. Heather Overla singled to right field and the runners went to second and third as the ball was bobbled.

Taylor Harlow ripped a shot at second baseman Nicole Bianco that bounced off her glove into shallow center field allowing Garcia and Overla to score.

“We talked to our kids ad nauseum about Crozier having a little bit of a changeup and a little bit of a curve, but she relies on that rise,” Hopson said. “The more disciplined we could be at letting the one at the letters and hands go, even if it’s called a strike, the better chance we were going to have.

“If we could make their defense field the ball, things could happen.”

Crozier cut the lead in half with a solo home run in the second, but Chesterton (14-13) answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning.

Kathleen Maple advanced to second as Crozier threw a ball away and advanced to third on a ground out by Justine Vogie. After a strikeout, Maple scored on a passed ball.

The Vikings scored two runs in the fourth off of Bottos when Bianco singled and went to second on an error and Amber Shuta doubled to right field.

“We kept talking, ‘do we change now’,” Hopson said. “We used this idea last week against Munster and it worked. They’ve all had trouble going the whole game.”

Taylor Harlow, in relief of Bottos, gave up a line drive single to Crozier, but struck out Natalie Novello to end the threat with the game tied at 3-all.

“When Krista’s on, she throws a lot of ground balls,” Hopson said of starting the sophomore. “When Taylor is off a little, there are a lot of fly balls.”

The game stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth when Heather Overla ripped a solo home run over the center field fence.

“Heather hit one against (Crozier) last time and I told her you have to wait for one that doesn’t rise,” Hopson said. “When she was coming around I told her, ‘that one didn’t rise’.”

Overla was 2-for-3 on the night and scored twice.

“I was just happy to hit the ball solid,” Overla said. “I didn’t know it was out until I heard Coach (Dan Lynch) yelling at first. I thought it was a solid single in front of the centerfielder.”

Harlow singled and was replaced at first by courtesy runner Jessica Peterson who moved to second on Maple’s single to left field. After a sacrifice bunt by Vogie, Sammie Howard’s ground ball to first was misplayed allowing Peterson to score.

The Vikings scored a run in the seventh to set up the ending when Lisa Kurtz scored on Williams’ double to center field.

“I’m happy to win and happy to advance,” Hopson said. “It’s no fun to exit in the first round.”

The Trojans will play in the Sectional semifinals at Merrillville High School today at 6 p.m. against CrownPoint.

SCORING BY INNINGS

Valparaiso 010 200 1 - 4 7 4

Chesterton 210 002 x - 5 7 2

2B - Baylee Williams 2, Amber Shuta (V); HR - Casey Crozier (V); Heather Overla (C). Pitching Summary - Valparaiso - Casey Crozier (6 IP, 7 H, 6 K, 1 BB); Chesterton - Krista Bottos (3 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 K, 0 BB), Taylor Harlow (3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 K, 1 BB). WP - Harlow (11-10). LP - Crozier.