Worth County's girls continued their run of success at the North Harrison softball tournament by winning the tournament there again. They easily won their opening round game, 17-0 against Winston behind the pitching of Haley Hunt and strong hitting up and down the lineup. Anna Gladstone started off her varsity career by hitting a home run for the Tigers.
That pitted them against North Harrison's JV squad. Worth County scored two in the top of the first and then broke the game open as Gladstone led off the third with a triple off the right center field wall. Payton Adwell singled down the left field line to score Gladstone, Haley Hunt got a pop fly, everyone was safe on a dropped force play at third as Adwell scored, and Haley Hunt scored on a wild pitch. Merrideth Spiers' pop fly dropped in to make it 6-0.
With one out, Kelly Briggs singled and Brandy Rivet doubled with two out for the hosts. But then Briley McClain grounded out to end the threat in the third.
Worth County tacked on an insurance run in the fourth as Anna Gladstone hit another shot, a monster shot to center that was off the 250 foot sign, well past the playing area. That made it 7-0. Worth County had a chance to add on to their lead, but Kaylee McElvain was robbed of a grand slam and Payton Adwell was called out for not tagging up at third to end the inning.
The Tiger defense pulled off a perfect 6-4-3 double play in the fifth as shortstop Sidney Troutwine threw to Kristen New, who relayed to Rachael Gardner at first to complete the double play.
North Harrison's JV made things interesting in the sixth as Sally Briggs doubled home two and Carli Brenizer grounded out to score another run to make it 7-3 before Worth County shut the door on the Shamrocks.
In the meantime, North Nodaway made it through their bracket to the tournament final. They won their opener 18-3 over East Harrison as they got hits up and down the lineup. Alisha Davison, Keagan O'Riley, and MaKayla Cross all went 4 for 4 while Madison Thompson went 3 for 4. Cross had a double and triple, while Bethany Herndon had a triple. That led to a back and forth tussle with Princeton. North Nodaway tacked on two insurance runs in the final inning to make it 9-6. Davison continued the hot hand, going 3 for 4, as was Cross. Bethany Herndon was 2 for 3, while Madison Thompson was 2 for 4 with a double.
That set up a championship showdown between Worth County and North Nodaway, and Worth County went down for the count early. Alisha Davison beat out third baseman Merrideth Spiers' throw to lead off the game. Keagan O'Riley struck out looking, but Madison Thompson hit a fly ball that Tiger right fielder Kaylee McElvain lost in the sun as Thompson took first and Davison third. Right field at Eagleville faces west directly into the sun, which makes it challenging to catch fly balls there during evening contests. Thompson stole second and Cross singled them both home. Later, Bethany Herndon grounded out to score Kandace Damgar to make it 3-0.
Both sides would have their chances over the next few frames. Worth County looked to answer in their half of the first, but North Nodaway centerfielder Emma Hart threw out Anna Gladstone trying to go first to third on Payton Adwell's single. Haley Hunt hit a fly ball that rightfielder Kristin Herndon nearly lost in the sun, but she located it just in time to make the catch for the third out.
Worth County squelched a rally in the second when Merrideth Spiers juggled Audrey Trimble's slapped pop fly and came up with it with her bare hand. In the bottom of the second, Mustang second baseman Bethany Herndon scooped and flipped a tricky roller to first to retire Dominique Findley. North Nodaway finally got on board again to make it 4-0 when Kelsi Oberhauser hit another fly ball into the sun in right field and made it all the way to third as McElvain lost it and Damgar scored. More damage was possible as there was one runner on third with one out. But Bethany Herndon popped out and Tiger centerfielder Anna Gladstone made a running basket catch of Ashley Thompson's Texas Leaguer that would have dropped in for the third out.
Worth County got right back in the game in the bottom of the third as their first five runners reached base. Kristin New walked and Sidney Troutwine reached on a Texas Leaguer that dropped into center. Anna Gladstone continued her torrid hitting streak with a double off the wall in right center that scored New. Payton Adwell hit a line drive to left that scored Troutwine; Gladstone, who held up to avoid being doubled off in case of a catch, made it to third and Adwell took second on the throw. Haley Hunt beat out a slow roller to score Gladstone and Rachael Gardner flied out to score Adwell to tie it up at 4.
North Nodaway threatened in the fourth; Chloe Schimming led off and hit a fly ball to right into the sun, but this time McElvain was able to locate the ball despite the sun and haul it in. Audrey Trimble beat out a slap single and the dangerous Alisha Davison came up; she was 9 for 10 on the afternoon. But Worth County finally got her out as she hit a slow roller to Haley Hunt on the mound, as did Keagan O'Riley as Worth County held.
The bottom of the order was coming up for Worth County and Dominique Findley struck out to start, but then Kristin New reached on an error as North Nodaway third baseman Madison Thompson threw it away. Troutwine reached on a pop fly, bringing up Anna Gladstone, already with two home runs, a double, and a triple for the day. But this time, first baseman Ashley Thompson made a great play to field a tricky grounder that looked like trouble and beat Gladstone to the bag for the second out with the score still tied at 4. Payton Adwell grounded out for what looked like the third out, but shortstop Alisha Davison's throw was wide of first and everyone was safe as Worth County broke the tie and made it 5-4 as New crossed the plate. Haley Hunt then made them pay as she hit a three run shot over the left center field fence to break it open and made it 8-4. The wind, which had been blowing left to right all day and which helped keep McElvain's drive against North Harrison's JV in, shifted to blowing straight to center, aiding Hunt's blast.
North Nodaway got one run back in the fifth as Madison Thompson doubled off the wall in left and MaKayla Cross and Kelsi Oberhauser both grounded out to get her home to make it 8-5. A big inning for Worth County would have ended the game on the time limit, but Merrideth Spiers grounded out to pitcher Keagan O'Riley to start. Kaylee McElvain hit a slow roller that looked like trouble, but second baseman Bethany Herndon, after bobbling it, flipped it to first with her bare hand for the second out. Then, she made a shoestring catch of Dominique Findley's popup that looked headed for a dead spot between the mound and second to retire Worth County in order. Had that not happened, Worth County would have won right then and there on the time limit as North Nodaway got out of the inning with 30 seconds to spare.
North Nodaway made things interesting after being given new life. Ashley Thompson popped out to Sidney Troutwine, who made a basket catch to stop it from dropping in. But then Chloe Schimming, always a dangerous clutch hitter, singled to right. Audrey Trimble came up, but then her slap attempt on strike two was ruled a bunt as it went foul behind the plate for strike three. That meant that the tying run would not be on for Alisha Davison, 9 for 11 for the day. But she walked on a 3-2 count to bring up Keagan O'Riley. She got behind 1-2 in the count, fouled one off that dropped behind the plate umpire before catcher Payton Adwell could get to it, but then pitcher Haley Hunt froze her for strike three to end the game.
With the win, Worth County got off to its first 3-0 start since 2006. It was their second tournament win in two years, both in Eagleville, after a 10 year tournament title drought.
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