Bad Second Inning Dooms Northeast in Districts

A bad second inning doomed Northeast Nodaway in districts as they lost 11-1 in six innings to Stanberry Wednesday. The Bulldogs scored six times in the second to create an insurmountable 7-0 lead after two innings and cruised to the victory.
Stanberry scored once in the first; Sydney Stoll reached on an error and Hailey Stuart doubled her to third, hitting a shot into the right field gap. Kimberly Jensen was thrown out on a dropped third strike, but Stoll broke for home safely on the throw to first to make it 1-0.
Northeast threatened in the top of the second as Blair Schmitz walked and Mallorie Peters grounded out to advance her to second, but Taylor Dougan and Sarah Fox struck out.
The Bluejays were doomed by pitching breakdowns in the second inning. Emily Bryant struck out three Stanberry batters in the first, but her control deserted her and she walked four batters in the second. Stanberry teed off on her as well, getting four hits in the frame and sending eight straight batters to the plate safely. The big blows for the Bulldogs in the inning were Shannon Luke’s two-run single between first and second as well as Jensen’s line drive single that scored two more.
Northeast got a run back in the third when Bryant tripled in the gap in right center and Cammi Hansen grounded out to bring her in.
Bryant walked two more batters in the third; Alex Wallace advanced them with a bunt and Hailey Stuart singled them home. Stuart took second on a wild pitch and then Jensen reached safely when Mallorie Peters fell down trying to field a grounder, scoring Stuart. That made it 10-1.
After Northeast went in order in the fourth, Taylor Dougan replaced Bryant on the mound. She struck out the first two batters; Morgan Luke reached on an error for Stanberry, stole second, and took third on a wild pitch. But Cammi Hansen fielded a grounder and threw her out at the plate to end the inning.
Dougan was hit by a pitch for Northeast and took second on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth; however, Kelsie Shaw and Sarah Fox struck out and Emily Bryant grounded out to end the threat.
Stanberry loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth, but they could not score. Dougan struck out Jensen; Katie Redig hit a line drive that would have ended the game, but Bryant snared the shot at shortstop to keep Northeast alive. Kelsey Stuart struck out to end the inning.
With two outs in the sixth, Rachel Runde singled between first and second while Blair Schmitz walked; however, Mallorie Peters grounded out to strand them. Morgan Luke singled in the 11th run for Stanberry to end the game on the 10-run rule.