The game was scoreless for much of the game. South Harrison uncorked a freshman pitcher, Shelby Miles, who befuddled Worth County with her junk pitches. Worth County was either getting called third strikes or check swings all morning as they had trouble waking from their morning slumber. They needed to get their confidence back after getting run-ruled by both King City and Maysville. Haley Hunt, starting for Worth County, kept Worth County in the game, but finally, things seemed to come to a head in the fourth inning. South Harrison had runners on second and third with one out, a perfect chance to break through and keep Worth County reeling. But then Kennedi Virtue tried to score on a passed ball. The problem was, the game was being played on the short field, with the fence a short distance from the plate, making it virtually impossible to score on a passed ball. That means that Tiger catcher Adrian Fletchall had an easy toss to Haley Hunt covering the plate to kill the potential big inning.
After that, Worth County woke up and started swinging the bats better. Payton Adwell got Worth County out of trouble in the fifth when she caught Emily Starmer's line drive and doubled Kennedi Virtue off first. Rikky Hunt relieved Haley in the fifth and pitched two innings of shut-down relief, but Worth County still needed a spark. They got it in the top of the seventh as Mollie Blaine singled, Haley Hunt was plunked by a pitch, and then Dominique Findley, who had come close earlier in the game, yanked one out of the yard to left. The ball hooked some, but landed fair to give Worth County the 3-0 lead and the win when Rikky Hunt shut down South Harrison in the bottom of the seventh for the win.
That brought up Princeton, a team that they had trouble matching up with last year. Worth County was trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the third and Princeton was looking to extend it after a dropped third strike. First baseman Brooklyn White forgot to cover the bag, but the ball didn't roll far enough away and the Tigers were able to throw a runner out at the plate for the third out. What could have been a big inning turned out to be nothing.
That was a big momentum changer for the Tigers. In the top of the fourth, Rikky Hunt beat out pitcher Payton Goodin's throw on a bunt and Payton Adwell hit a grounder to short. It was a simple force play, but Rikky Jo took out the second baseman, the ball was dropped, and she was safe. They went to second and third on a wild pitch and Rachael Gardner reached on a dropped throw by the first baseman as Hunt scored. Dominique Findley grounded out to score Adwell, and then another Princeton miscue gave Worth County a third run. With two outs, Haley Hunt hit a grounder to third and the third baseman forgot there were two outs and threw home in an attempt to retire Rachael Gardner coming home from third instead of getting the easy out at first. But Gardner was safe and Worth County was up 4-2 after four.
Sidney Troutwine beat out yet another bunt hit, something she has done a lot of this year. Payton Adwell grounded out to get her to second, and she took third on a wild pitch. Rikky Jo walked and stole second and Payton Adwell brought them both home with a single to left to make it 6-2. Worth County seemed to have a charmed life all day; one play happened when Payton Adwell tried to take third on a delayed steal attempt. She would have been a sitting duck as the shortstop did her job and covered the bag as the third baseman was playing in guarding against the bunt. But the third baseman cut off the throw and the Peastick (as nicknamed by her teammates) was safe.
Worth County continued to have a charmed life in the sixth as Dominique Findley singled over short and third in the sixth. She took off for second as a ball got away from the catcher, and she would have been a sitting duck had she been paying attention. But she made it without a throw and later, Victoria Moore hit a screamer down the left field line after she had two strikes on her, and The Domino came home. Later, Sidney Troutwine walked and Victoria started trotting to third base thinking there were three outs. The Princeton defense didn't realize what had happened until it was too late, and Moore was safe at third.
Payton Adwell pitched a six inning complete game for the win, which set up a showdown with Pattonsburg for the championship.
It had been so long since Worth County had been in this position that Payton Adwell didn't even realize the team was playing in the championship game. The players actually thought Dave Gilland was messing around with them when he told them the team had been seeded first. The last time they had been in this position was in 2007, when they played in the championship game of the Union Star Tournament and lost.
But fatigue was a decisive factor in the championship game. Pattonsburg had come off a grueling battle with North Nodaway, which they had won 4-3; the Mustangs have beaten the Tigers this year. Katie Warford, who had pitched and went the distance in that game, pitched for the Panthers as the future GRC foes locked horns. She showed early signs of fatigue as she walked Adrian Fletchall and Rikky Hunt to lead off the game; it's never a good sign when the first two batters of an inning are walked. North Nodaway had swung at her high heat all game, but when Worth County laid off her high heat, she had no backup plan. Adrian advanced on a wild pitch and Rikky Jo later stole second. Payton Adwell singled them home and The Peastick later scored when on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. Worth County lost the coin flip all three times, but that simply gave them a chance to jump out early.
Pattonsburg had two dangerous hitters in Rheanna Gardner and Haleigh Plymell, the latter whom slugged a home run in the Panthers' opening win against East Harrison. But Rikky Hunt, who was pitching, shut them down in the first. That gave Worth County a chance to add to their lead. They did when Sidney Troutwine, normally a bunter, hit a single down the right field line to score Haley Hunt after Haley had beat out a scratch hit off the third baseman's glove and stole second and third. Troutwine advanced to second on a wild pitch, took third on Adrian Fletchall's bunt, and scored on a wild pitch when Warford failed to cover.
Pattonsburg began its comeback bid in the bottom of the third as the top of the order came around; Haleigh Plymell grounded out to Rikky Hunt to score Brittanie Middaugh, and Warford sngled home Amber Shaw. That made it 5-2, and it looked like the Panthers would finally make a game out of it after their slow start. But nobody could have predicted what happened next.
Sidney Troutwine reached on an error that went through the shortstop's legs and Adrian Fletchall walked. Rikky Jo made a rare miscue when she took a called third strike, but then a successful delayed steal put Fletchall and Troutwine on second and third. The Peastick was up next and the Pattonsburg right fielder lost a fly ball in the sun; it dropped in for a single and Payton went to second on the throw home as Worth County moved out of striking distance and led 7-2. That opened up the floodgates; Adwell took third on a wild pitch and then scored as Rachael Gardner reached on an error. Later, Mollie Blaine, who has been a sparkplug all year for the Tigers, laid down a perfect bunt with Gardner on third and she beat the throw home to make it 9-2.
After Mollie Blaine pulled off a delayed steal of home, Warford was finished and Shalia Cramer came in an effort to slow down the Tigers. Gilland had told his players that the South Harrison pitcher they faced was the slowest pitcher they would face all year; this one was slower. Worth County has had trouble the last two years facing slow pitchers; however, it didn't matter this time. Hailey Hunt got a couple of scratch hits, Adrian Fletchall roped a single to center that plated two, Dominique Findley scored on a wild pitch, Rikky Jo beat out a scratch hit down the third base line and later came around to score on a wild pitch, and there was a regular carousel of baserunners coming in and scoring. It was all capped off when Hailey Hunt and Payton Adwell both scored on a wild pitch. When the dust had settled, Worth County was up 18-2 and the game was stopped after four innings due to the 15 run rule.
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