North Nodaway buried North Harrison in an avalanche of hits and held off their frantic attempts to rally in the fifth and seventh innings as they won 10-7, a big win for the Mustangs, who are trying to make their final season one to remember.
Both teams made plenty of mistakes, but North Nodaway played some opportunistic defense, cutting down five North Harrison baserunners either at third or at home. The Mustangs had not played all week, while North Harrison got two games in last week. All North Nodaway did was stay indoors and work on timing and crushing the ball in the batting cage. But all that work paid off Monday evening.
North Harrison scored first when Carly Rinehart reached on shortstop Kandace Damgar’s bobble. Mason Cracraft bunted her over to second and she took third on a wild pitch. But Emma Craig hit a grounder to pitcher Keagan O’Riley, Rinehart broke for home, and O’Riley cut her down at the plate. Kami Gibson crushed a double over center fielder Audrey Trimble’s head that she lost in the sun to make it 1-0.
Carly Rinehart came into the game not having given up a hit in three games, but that ended in a hurry when Shai Dailey took a two strike pitch and crushed it into the gap and through the fence for a ground rule double. Keagan O’Riley grounded out to advance her to third, and MaKayla Cross hit a pop fly just over the head of shortstop Deva Wallace for a base hit to score one.
North Harrison moved back in front in the second. Rainey Fordyce shot one just past Shai Dailey for a base hit, and Deva Wallace singled up the middle. But Fordyce tried to go from first to third on the play and center fielder Audrey Trimble threw a laser beam to third to get her out as Wallace took second. Hunter Stevens hit a pop fly just out of shortstop Kandace Damgar’s reach to put runners on first and second for a base hit. Camden Castleberry was called out on strikes, but Carly Rinehart reached on third baseman Kristin Herndon’s error as Wallace scored from second to make it 2-1.
But North Nodaway once again got it right back. They started off with a pair of scratch hits as Ashley Thompson hit a pop fly behind the mound in no-man’s land for a scratch hit. Kristin Herndon got another when she hit a pop fly behind first that second baseman Mason Cracraft got to, but didn’t have a play on. North Harrison nearly got out of the inning as Audrey Trimble and Alonna Cross struck out, but then Shai Dailey reached on an error when nobody called for a pop fly between the mound, shortstop, and third base and it dropped untouched. Thompson, off with the crack of the bat with two outs, scored to tie it at 2-2.
North Harrison did not score in the third and had their third baserunner cut down in as many innings. Emma Craig reached on a four pitch walk, and second baseman Shai Dailey dropped a pop fly to put runners on first and second. Ashlynn Gilpatrick struck out and Rainey Fordyce grounded into a force at second as Craig took third. A wild pitch got away from catcher MaKayla Cross, Craig broke for home, but she was cut down at the plate and the game remained tied.
North Nodaway took control of the game in the fourth. MaKayla Cross hit a screamer that rolled under the right field fence for a ground rule double. Emma Hart singled to put runners on first and third, and Kandace Damgar flied out to score Cross to make it 3-2. Ashley Thompson singled past short to put runners on first and second. Kristin Herndon grounded out for the second out to put runners on second and third and Audrey Trimble reached on an error when nobody took charge of a pop fly behind second as two runs came home to make it 5-2. Out of North Nodaway’s five runs up to that point, three of them had scored with two out.
The Shamrocks got one back in the fourth when Deva Wallace walked. Hunter Stevens was called out on a pitch that clipped the inside corner for strike three, but Camden Castleberry’s pop fly behind first dropped in for a base hit. They went to second and third on a wild pitch and Carly Rinehart crushed one to left center field to score Wallace. Castleberry, who held up to make sure it wasn’t caught, took third. But North Nodaway got out of the jam when Mason Cracraft, usually a difficult batter to strike out, swung and missed at one for strike three and Emma Craig’s screamer was caught by Damgar at short to keep the tying runs from scoring.
Shai Dailey hit a laser beam to center for a base hit, stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch. Keagan O’Riley walked, and Carly Rinehart was finished. Ashlynn Gilpatrick came into pitch, but walked MaKayla Cross to bring up Emma Hart, who promptly crushed one over Camden Castleberry in right and drove in three runs. The third run scored when Cross tangled up with Mason Cracraft, moved from second to third and the umpire ruled obstruction, sending her home. Ashlynn Gilpatrick fought her way out of the inning with no more damage. Kandace Damgar grounded out to Cracraft at third as Hart advance to third. But Gilpatrick caught Kristin Herndon lunging at a chance and Audrey Trimble grounded out to Rinehart at second. But North Nodaway had taken an 8-3 lead.
With their backs to the wall, North Harrison got their bats going after Kami Gibson battled Keagan O’Riley to a 3-2 count and drew a walk. Ashlynn Gilpatrick hit a slow roller down the first base line, but Ashley Thompson pulled off a perfect 3-4 play, throwing to second baseman Shai Dailey for the first out as Gibson took second. Rainey Fordyce hit one as hard as she has in her life, crashing a double off Audrey Trimble’s glove in left center. Trimble’s throw was not in time to get Gibson as Fordyce took third. Sally Briggs, who came in to play first in the fourth, singled home to score Fordyce to make it 8-5, and Deva Wallace came back in to run for her. Hunter Stevens was called out on strikes, but catcher MaKayla Cross tried to pick off Wallace at first. A good throw would have gotten her, but she threw it away and Wallace came all the way around to third. But then Hunter Stevens was called out on strikes. Camden Castleberry hit a screamer to third, but third baseman Kristin Herndon snagged it and cut down Wallace at the plate for the fourth baserunner nailed on the basepaths for North Harrison.
The deficit was only three runs at that point, and a shutdown inning would have put North Harrison in position to make a late charge. But #9 batter Alonna Cross hit a pop fly that dropped in fair down the first base line; she provided a textbook example of why you run those balls out. Nobody could get to it in time, and she got herself a scratch hit.
That meant Ashlynn Gilpatrick and North Harrison had to go through the heart of North Nodaway’s order. They nearly got out of it with no damage done. Gilpatrick froze the hot-hitting Shai Dailey with a change for a called third strike, but then Keagan O’Riley crushed one over Hunter Stevens’ head in left for a double, putting runners on second and third with one out, and the dangerous MaKayla Cross at the plate. Gilpatrick came through again, freezing her on a curve ball that looked inside, but broke over the plate for strike three. But then Emma Hart crushed one over everyone’s head for the second time in a row, two runs scored, and North Nodaway was up 10-5. Out of ten runs North Nodaway scored, five were with two out.
The heart of North Harrison’s lineup was due up in the sixth, but Carly Rinehart’s drive died on the warning track in left and Emma Hart caught it. Mason Cracraft hit a screamer, but right back at Keagan O’Riley for the second out, and Emma Craig grounded out for the third out.
North Nodaway had scored in each of their first five innings, but North Harrison finally shut down the Mustang bats in the sixth. Kristin Herndon was waiting on a change from Gilpatrick and crushed it into left field for a base hit with one out. She took second on a wild pitch, but Addie Slaughter, inserted at third base, made an over the shoulder catch of Jadon Dobbins’ pop fly to save a base hit and a possible run. Emily Dew reached on a hard shot down the third base line that Slaughter knocked down but had no play on, and Shai Dailey struck out.
That left the door open for North Harrison, and Kami Gibson took Keagan O’Riley’s first pitch to left field for a base hit. Then, Ashlynn Gilpatrick took O’Riley’s first offering to center for another base hit, and Rainey Fordyce reached on first baseman Ashley Thompson’s dropped throw to load the bases with nobody out. Sally Briggs singled to left center to bring in two and make it 10-7, bringing the tying run to the plate. Kenna Slaughter (running for Briggs) and Fordyce advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, and Baily Briggs got into a long battle with Keagan O’Riley, working the count to 3-2 and fouling off a couple of pitches. But then Keagan O’Riley threw a perfect pitch at the knees for a called third strike.
Addie Slaughter hit a grounder to Kandace Damgar, who bobbled the grounder at short. But she recovered in time to throw out Slaughter at first. Kenna Slaughter took off for third when Damgar threw to first, but Ashley Thompson threw a strike to Kristin Herndon at third to cut her down for the third out.
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