Brooklyn Richardson set the tone for Worth County by mowing down nine Bluejays in three innings of work and freshman pitcher Kristen Tracy took it home from there as the Tigers blanked Northeast Nodaway 9-1.
Worth County got off to a bad start this year, but has recently found their stride. Northeast has won most of their games this year, but without Baylie Busby (fibula), they had to plug some new faces in. A freshman, Brianna Meyer, was pressed into service as catcher. But Gracie Kohlleppel was a bright spot for them, getting two hits for the Bluejays.
The Tigers scored in every inning but the fifth before breaking it open in the sixth. Northeast got their lone tally in the sixth.
Rylee Ruckman started off the Tigers in the first by beating out a slow roller in the first. She took second on a passed ball, stole third, and came home on Kynah Steele’s groundout to make it 1-0.
Richardson worked around two walks by striking out three Bluejays in its half of the first.
Kara Staton tripled all the way to the wall, 270 feet away in right to start the Tigers in the second. Brylee Rush doubled to center to score Kara but was out trying for third as Sasha Deardorff threw a bullet to Jill Boswell at short, whose relay was in time to Blair Nelson for the out.
After Richardson struck out the side in the Bluejay second, Katie Fletchall came home on a wild pitch to make it 3-0 in the third.
Richardson struck out the first two Bluejay batters of the third, but tired after that, walking two batters and hitting a third. But she recovered to get the final out. Brylee Rush stole home as Northeast was getting an out at first on a dropped third strike and Rush broke for the plate and made it to make it 4-0.
Kristen Tracy came on in relief in the fourth. Gracie Kohlleppel broke the ice for the Bluejays with her first hit when she dug a pitch out of the first Bluejay hit. But Tracy was able to work around some traffic in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Evalyn Gilland beat out a slow roller that went up the middle and nobody could get to in the Tiger sixth. Rylee Ruckman started a whole series of at bats where the Tigers would dig the ball out of the dirt for base hits. Rylee Ruckman dug one out and hit a shot off Bluejay pitcher Lindsey Jackson’s bare hand and beat it out. Kambree Briner grounded out to advance them, and then Kynah Steele dug another ball out of the dirt and singled to left to score Gilland, putting runners on first and third. Kristen Tracy hit a screamer down the left field line for a triple to score two more and then Brylee Rush’s Texas leaguer dropped in right for a base hit to get her home. She took second and third on wild pitches and Keira Hardy grounded out to score her to make it 9-0.
Gracie Kohlleppel got her second hit when she dug out a pitch and singled to center. But she tried to steal second on the freshman catcher and Keira Hardy, who was inserted at catcher for the Tigers that inning, gunned her down trying to steal. The Tigers may have just found two new catchers if Autumn Cousatte doesn’t return (knee). Rylee Ruckman caught for much of the game Monday.
Keira has catching in her blood; her mother, Vicki (Wake) Hardy, had never caught a game before, but she was pressed into service during her playing days back in 1997 as the Tigers were split into two teams, but the other team’s catcher was gone for the Jefferson game. Worth County won the game 7-6 in Jefferson as Vicky tagged the tying run out at the plate for the final out to preserve the win.
Down to their last out, Northeast tried to get a rally going as Hadley DeFreece walked and Blair Nelson turned on a change and crushed it into left field. The Bluejays may have found a new first baseman as well; Nelson made some outstanding stretches at first to save some errors. Nelson’s shot would have been extra bases had not Rayleigh Smith not used her body to stop the ball and get it in quickly. DeFreece and Nelson went to second and third on a wild pitch and another wild pitch broke the shutout as Hadley crossed the plate.
Jill Boswell was next, and she had come up big on the same field two years ago as she had crushed a triple for a 10-9 nine inning walkoff win over North Harrison. Sure enough, she crushed another one that looked headed for extra bases. But Tiger second baseman Katie Fletchall speared it for the final out.
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