The shorthanded Worth County Tigers were denied a consolation crown as they beat Union Star 10-4 but lost to Plattsburg 5-1 in Union Star Tournament action Saturday. The Tigers were without Delaney Davidson, who was gone to district choir as well as her brother's wedding that day. Coach Todd Simmons started Casey Smyser both games and then brought in Ashley Reynolds in relief. He said that in order for the Tigers to play better, they needed to be more focused and that they needed to hit the ball harder. "We were not hitting the ball during the tournament; we were just poking at it," he explained.
Worth County 10, Union Star 4
Worth County scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first and made it stand up against Union Star, beating them 10-4 in their first game that morning. Union Star struck in the top of the first; with two outs, Hillary Todd was hit by a pitch and Jerika Wilkerson gave one a ride to the left field wall to score her to put Union Star up 1-0.
But the Tigers responded with one of their most productive innings of the year. Brooke Adams reached on an error as Todd's throw from short pulled the first baseman off the bag. Brooke Gilland struck out, but Ashley Reynolds homered to the wall in left as she circled the bases standing up to make it 2-1. Amanda Downing hit a pop fly single to center and then Bailey McPike singled between first and second. Casey Smyser grounded out to advance them to second and third and then Tonya Troutwine singled past short to score Downing. Bailey McPike then scored on a wild pitch. Rebecca Moore then hit a pop fly single that dropped right in front of the center fielder to score Troutwine. She stole second and then Paige McPike reached on an error when Falicia Grannas misplayed a hop to score Moore. Brooke Adams then laid down a bunt and reached on a two-base throwing error when Hannah Todd threw it away. Brooke Gilland then singled to left to score McPike and Adams. Ashley Reynolds then beat out a grounder to short. Amanda Downing then singled home Gilland and went to second as the third baseman let the cutoff throw roll away. Bailey McPike then singled in Reynolds for the tenth run of the inning.
That was the last scoring that the Tigers would do as Union Star chipped away at the lead, but could not cut in. Union Star went in order in the second; in the third; the Trojans got a run off a triple by Kaylee Barnett and a groundout by Hannah Todd. Casey Smyser got into trouble in the fourth and began fighting the strike zone; she walked Falicia Grannas and hit Audrey Silvey; a pair of wild pitches scored Grannas and left Silvey on third with nobody out. But Ashley Reynolds came on in relief as Smyser went to right field and Downing went to first and struck out Lauren Humphrey and Shelby Ray and got Kaylee Barnett to hit a weak grounder to end the inning. The Trojans got their final run in the top of the fifth as Hillary Todd walked and Jerika Wilkerson singled to right and Todd scored all the way from first thanks to a bad hop.
Plattsburg 5, Worth County 1
Worth County was denied the consolation trophy as they fell to Plattsburg 5-1 in their second game Saturday. The Tigers did some things right but could not solve the hard breaking ball of Samatha Gibson, who baffled the Tigers all day. Worth County got some good swings early but Gibson got stronger as the morning wore on. Plattsburg, up first, scored two unearned runs as Brooke Adams struggled to find the range at short; her first throw was wild and her second throw was in the dirt. Those two plays and a stolen base put runners on second and third; Dorothy Ward grounded out to score Shelby Cox and Rachel Cox doubled over the left fielder's head to score Gibson. Ashley Reynolds snared a line drive to take extra bases away from Cayla Wyatt.
The Tigers got some good swings in the bottom of the first but couldn't score. With one out, Brooke Gilland singled down the left field line. Ashley Reynolds forced her at second, but Amanda Downing reached on a dropped third strike and Reynolds went all the way to third on the errant throw. Sidney Davenport hit the ball hard, but right back at Gibson who threw to first for the third out.
Plattsburg could not score in their half of the second thanks to another sparkling defensive play from Reynolds at first. Megan Schurle singled to center. Elly Young struck out, but Cali Anderson walked to put runners on first and second with one out. Shelby Cox hit a hard shot at Ashley Reynolds, who snared it and stepped on first for the double play. Worth County could not take advantage of their good fortune in the bottom of the second as Casey Smyser walked and stole second with one out but was stranded by back to back strikeouts from Tonya Troutwine and Rebecca Moore.
Gibson helped herself out in the top of the third with a scratch hit off Casey Smyser's glove into no-man's land. Paige McPike made a nice play in left field with a running over the shoulder catch for the first out, but Rachel Kent grounded out to second to move Gibson to second and Gibson went to third on a wild pitch. Wyatt's single scored her to make it 3-0.
After Worth County went down in order in their half of the third, Plattsburg used yet another two-out rally to extend their lead to 5-0 in the fourth. Smyser helped herself out by catching a soft line drive from Elly Young for the first out but then Cali Anderson walked and Shelby Cox moved her over with a groundout. Samantha Gibson doubled just over Sidney Davenport's head for one run and then Dorothy Ward singled in Gibson.
Amanda Downing reached on an error when the third baseman swiped at the ball instead of fielding it, but the Tigers could not use it as Davenport struck out, Bailey McPike forced Downing at second, and Casey Smyser struck out. Ashley Reynolds replaced Smyser on the mound; Casey Smyser went to center field and Amanda Downing went from center to first. Reynolds pitched two innings and Plattsburg threatened in both of them, but Reynolds made some good pitches to get out of jams. She was helped by some strong defensive play in the field. Cayla Wyatt singled down the left field line for Plattsburg in the fifth and Cali Anderson reached on an error as Bailey McPike threw high on a bunt. They advanced to second and third with nobody out on a wild pitch, but Worth County catcher Brooke Gilland picked off Wyatt from third and Wyatt was out in a rundown as McPike chased her home and threw to Gilland for the out. Schurle Struck out and then Brooke Adams fielded Elly Young's hard line drive on a short hop and threw to first for the third out of the fifth.
After Worth County went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, Plattsburg once again loaded the bases with nobody out thanks to three consecutive singles from Anderson, Cox, and Gibson. But Dorothy Ward and Rachel Kent each grounded into force plays at the plate and Wyatt popped out to Reynolds. Worth County got their lone run in the sixth as Brooke Gilland tripled to left and came home on a groundout from Reynolds.
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