North Harrison turned back North Andrew 9-3 and then Worth County 6-1 in the Bill Hill Memorial Tournament before falling to Stanberry 3-1 in the championship round of the tournament.
North Andrew came into the game with 12 players, only one junior, and only one senior. They nonetheless knocked off Stanberry in districts last year to derail a potential run to state for the Bulldogs. On top of that, the two coaches, Todd Simmons and Brandon Craig, have been coaching buddies for a long time; when he was at Worth County, Simmons’ Tigers, which won only four games that year, knocked off heavily favored North Harrison in districts one year. For a while, it looked like the same thing would happen to North Harrison as they trailed 3-0 going into their half of the fifth. But then, they came back to win it 9-3 to advance to the second round.
North Harrison’s propensity to get into jams didn’t hurt them in the first, when they loaded the bases, but got out of it. But they struggled to hit throughout the first four innings. Meanwhile, Makenna Goldizen walked to force in a run for North Andrew in the third to make it 1-0. Jentry Copple added to her team’s head when she homered in the fourth to make it 3-0. North Harrison went quietly in the fourth, putting it in play, but hitting it right at people.
But in the fifth, Camden Castleberry hit a grounder to third, and she threw it away as Castleberry made it to second to open the floodgates. Deva Wallace singled down the right field line; Castleberry held up at third to make sure the ball wasn’t caught. Wallace stole second and Sally Briggs walked to load the bases. Baily Briggs hit it hard, but right at the third baseman, who fired home to force Castleberry. Ashlynn Gilpatrick singled to right center to score two to cut it to 3-2 and went to second on an unsuccessful throw to third.
Rainey Fordyce then came up to bat and hit a grounder to second. There was a wild rundown as Gilpatrick was caught between second and third while Baily Briggs was caught between third and home. Briggs finally broke for home, and the North Andrew catcher blocked her path as the ball was thrown away. Briggs scored following a collision, and Gilpatrick also scored, which would have made it 4-3. Normally, that is ruled obstruction on the catcher, since fielders can’t block a base without the ball unless they are fielding a hit ball. But umpire Corey Gilpin ruled that Briggs maliciously contacted the catcher, called her out, and sent Gilpatrick back to third and placed Fordyce on first. A rhubarb followed as coach Brandon Craig argued the call to no avail, and Gilpin tossed out two fans.
Emma Craig grounded out, but the play seemed to fire up North Harrison, who held on defense and then started off the sixth with a double from Kami Gibson and a single from Mason Cracraft. An airmailed throw from the third baseman tied it up and put Castleberry on second and Cracraft on third. Deva Wallace walked, Hunter Stevens hit a fly ball dropped in the sun to break the tie and make it 5-3, and Addie Slaughter flied out to score Wallace. Ashlynn Gilpatrick grounded out, but Fordyce doubled and Emma Craig and Kami Gibson singled to make it 9-3.
There was a heartstopping moment in the seventh, when a pop fly caromed out of pitcher Emma Craig’s glove, but first baseman Addie Slaughter caught it.
Against Worth County, North Harrison allowed five baserunners in the first two innings, but came up unscathed. In the second, the Shamrocks broke through when Kami Gibson singled to center and Mason Cracraft reached on an error to put runners on first and second. Hunter Stevens was called out on strikes, but a passed ball put the runners on second and third. Camden Castleberry, who had helped the Shamrocks out with her speed already, did so again when she beat out a bunt single as everyone was safe; a run scored and the Shamrocks had runners on first and third. She stole second and then Deva Wallace reached safely on an unsuccessful attempt to cut down Cracraft at the plate as Castleberry took third. Deva Wallace stole second, Addie Slaughter walked to load the bases, and Ashlynn Gilpatrick grounded into a force at third as Castleberry scored to make it 3-0. For Worth County, Jill Hardy made a great catch of Emma Craig’s line drive to prevent any further damage.
In the fourth, Deva Wallace hit a shot that would have been a base hit, but Tiger second baseman Allison Larison threw her body in the way and stopped the ball to get her out. Addie Slaughter walked and went to second on a passed ball; Ashlynn Gilpatrick grounded out to move her to third, and Rainey Fordyce hit a shot that went under third baseman Merrideth Spiers’ legs before she could get her glove down to score Slaughter. Emma Craig hit a screamer so hard to left that even Braidy Hunt, who has made some spectacular catches for Worth County this year, couldn’t get to; Fordyce scored on the double, Craig went for third as the throw was being cut off, and she was safe on a close play. Kami Gibson reached on a bad hop single past third as Craig scored to make it 6-0.
Worth County scored its lone run in the sixth, when Anna Gladstone reached on an error, took second on a wild pitch, stole third, and came home on Merrideth Spiers’ groundout. North Harrison nearly got some more runs across in the sixth; with the bases loaded and two outs, Mason Cracraft hit a screamer between Anna Gladstone and Anna Spainhower in right center. There was an epic collision, but Anna Spainhower somehow came up with the sensational catch for the third out.
North Harrison did much better than they did in their 11-1 loss to Stanberry last year, but they could make little impression against a team favored to go to state this year. Kierstyn McMillen singled home a run for Stanberry in the first, while Madi Sager doubled home two more in the third. Emma Craig tripled in Rainey Fordyce in the sixth for North Harrison’s lone run.
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