Monday, October 5, 2020

Tigers Use Nine Run Fourth to Get Back on Winning Track

Northeast Nodaway’s girls softball team, still looking for their first win, gave Worth County everything they could handle for 3½ innings, but then the floodgates opened in the fourth as Worth County pulled away for the 13-2 win Monday. 

The Bluejays scored the first run as Lauren McIntyre doubled as her pop fly landed just fair along the right field line. Meredith Adwell moved her over with a grounder to pitcher Ali Brown, and Anne Schieber hit a hard grounder to shortstop Jill Hardy to score McIntyre to make it 1-0 in the first.

Worth County got two in their half as Allison Larison singled to left. Morgan Beagle forced her at second, but Jill Hardy kept the inning going with a single to center, and Megan Cassavaugh doubled off the right center field wall to make it 2-1. Braidy Hunt flied out to Kirsten Morrow in right for the third out; Morrow was a steady hand for the Bluejays with three catches in the outfield.

The Tigers added to their lead in the second when Kara Staton doubled down the left field line, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on an overthrow to make it 3-1.

Morgan Beagle tripled off the wall in left and came home when Jill Hardy hit a slow roller between first and second and nobody covered first as Beagle crossed the plate to make it 4-1 after three.

Northeast got one run back in the fourth when Anne Schieber hit a bad-hop double to left with one out. Delainey McIntyre doubled down the right field line and stole second and Jaden Atkins grounded out to score Schieber to cut Worth County’s lead to 4-2.

Worth County put the game away in the bottom of the fourth when Ali Brown reached on a third strike that got away for a wild pitch. That started a snowball effect as consecutive Bluejay errors loaded the bases with nobody out. Allison Larison reached on a fielder’s choice as Hailey Adwell was safe at third to beat a force play, scoring Autumn Cousatte (running for Brown). Morgan Beagle reached on a scratch hit to score Adwell, Jill Hardy walked to force in a run, and then Megan Cassavaugh stepped up to the plate.

Northeast Nodaway had three of their infielders shifted to the left side, but Cassavaugh went the other way and singled to shallow right center to beat the shift as two runs crossed the plate. Braidy Hunt tripled to right to score two and chase Anne Schieber from the mound. 

Worth County got two more runs before Atkins could get the Bluejays out of the fourth. Kara Staton flied out to score Hunt. Ali Brown hit a screamer, but right at Schieber, who had moved to short, for the second out. Earlier, Brown had hit a screamer down the left field line to the 280 foot sign, but just foul. Hailey Adwell restarted the Tigers with a scratch hit, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored off Aivry Griffin’s single. It might have been more, but shortstop Anne Schieber ran down Allison Larison’s pop fly in foul territory right next to the fence for the third out.

Northeast did not go quietly as Kami Adwell as Kami Adwell singled to left and Kierstyn Morrow had a bad hop single to beat out an infield hit; she had been swinging the bat well all evening. Ruby Wilmes forced Maribeth Lamb (running for Adwell) at third, but then Lauren McIntyre singled to left to load the bases with one out and set up a possible big inning for the Bluejays that would have gotten them right back in the game. Meredith Adwell hit one as hard as she had ever hit one in her life, but right at Tiger second baseman Allison Larison. The runners at first and second scrambled back safely, but Larison doubled off Morrow from third for the final out.


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