Worth County and Northeast Nodaway finished 1-2 in the King City Softball Tournament Saturday as the Tigers beat the Bluejays 9-5 in the decisive game, and then both had to endure frantic rallies from Norborne/Hardin-Central and get past a still solid King City squad that went to the Quarterfinals last year. The teams had to endure a hot afternoon, but when the day cooled off and evening set in, the stage was set for the best game of the day, the meeting between Worth County and King City, taken by the Tigers to seal the tournament. A win by King City would have vaulted the Wildkats and the Bluejays into a three way tie with 2-1 marks and forced tiebreaks.
Games were decided by the one and a half hour time limit or seven innings, with both teams being allowed to finish innings. The ten run rule after five and the 15 run rule after three were in effect. Ties were decided by the international tiebreaker, with the player making the last out taking second to start extra innings.
Bluejays 8, King City 3
The Bluejays got their most solid win of the afternoon behind the pitching of Lindsey Jackson as they turned back King City in the first game. They had a rough start when Beatrix Bowden walked, took second on an errant pickoff, third on a wild pitch, and came home on Tacee Catlett's grounder. Hadley DeFreece started off NEN in the first when she tripled to right. Jill Boswell walked and stole second and DeFreece came home on a wild pitch as Boswell took third. Brianna Meyer grounded out to score Boswell to make it 2-1.
NEN overcame a bases loaded jam in the second when Jackson got Kaylee Roberts chasing a high pitch to get out of the inning. The Bluejays continued to struggle with baserunning, killing a rally in the second, but overcame another bases loaded jam in the third. In their half of the third, Hadley DeFreece drew a walk and stole second. Jill Boswell singled and then Hailey Yost and Makenzie Pride walked to load the bases. Lindsey Jackson emptied the bases with a three run triple to make it 6-1.
The Bluejays got their last two runs in the fourth when Mylee Wilmes doubled just fair inside the first base line and it rolled into the vast real estate there. Blair Nelson singled to center to score Wilmes and took second on an errant cutoff throw. She was later erased after trying to score on a wild throw to third, but Hadley DeFreece walked, Jill Boswell beat out an infield hit, and DeFreece came home when Brianna Meyer's fly ball to right was dropped.
But King City has frequently erased deficits late in games, and they rallied when Bowden walked and Tacee Catlett doubled her home. Catlett later came home to score on a dropped third strike situation as the Bluejays traded a run for an out. Kamryn Miller reached on an error and Kenzie Pettijohn doubled to keep the game going, but Jackson struck out Brylin Armfield for the final out as time was called.
Worth County 9, NEN 5
The game that turned out to decide the tournament came up after King City had beaten Norborne/Hardin-Central. First, Worth County jumped all over Northeast Nodaway. In the first inning, Brooklyn Richardson had a pitch hit both her hand and the bat; she was awarded first on a hit by pitch. She stole second and came all the way home on Kambree Briner's groundout to make it 1-0.
That set the tone for the next inning, as Autumn Cousatte doubled down the left field line to start the Tiger second. Keira Hardy hit a Texas Leaguer that dropped just in front of Gracie Kohlleppel in right, putting runners on first and third. Hardy stole second and then both came home on wild pitches. Rylee Ruckman walked and then Northeast tried to pick her off, but she stole second successfully. Brooklyn Richardson then doubled down the left field line to score Ruckman and finish Lindsey Jackson.
But Worth County continued to tee off on Hadley DeFreece as Kambree Briner grounded out to short but Richardson once again scored all the way from second. Kristen Tracy beat out an infield hit, Kynah Steele doubled off the wall in left to score Tracy, and then came home on a couple of wild pitches. Brylee Rush singled, Autumn Cousatte, and then Keira Hardy hit a screamer to right. Gracie Kohlleppel made a running try for it, but missed and it dropped into the vast area behind the bullpens for a triple to score both runs.
The Bluejays got a spark in the Tiger third when Brooklyn Richardson walked, but then Kambree Briner hit into an unusual double play. She singled to center, Lindsey Jackson, who moved to center when DeFreece came in to pitch, cut down Richardson trying to go first to third, then Briner was cut down from Brianna Meyer to Mylee Wilmes to complete the double play.
A different Bluejay squad then took the field for the fourth as Jill Boswell singled and went to second as the ball got by the center fielder. Hailey Yost advanced her with a groundout and Lindsey Jackson singled her home. After Boswell made a brilliant stop of Autumn Cousatte's sharp grounder in the hole at short to kill a Tiger rally in its half of the fourth, Makenzie Pride singled and Sasha Deardorff grounded out to advance her. Mylee Wilmes grounded to Kynah Steele at short, who tried to look back Pride, but then didn't have a play. An infield fly was dropped; under the Infield Fly Rule, runners have the right to advance with liability to be tagged out as the batter is automatically out, and they did so.
Hadley DeFreece beat out an infield hit as Pride scored and Wilmes held at second. Jill Boswell singled to left just past Kynah Steele. Brylee Rush's throw home was not in time as Wilmes scored, DeFreece took off for third on the throw home and was safe, and Boswell took second on the play. Brianna Meyer singled to right and two runs scored as Boswell was safe at home. But Meyer was out at second on a close play as the Tigers finally got out of the inning still up 9-5.
With the Tigers batting in the bottom of the fifth, time expired and the game was called.
NEN 8, Norborne/Hardin-Central 7
Both Worth County and Northeast Nodaway had to turn back a good hitting Aggies squad which was off to a 4-1 start before Saturday's games; they scored seven or more runs in all five of those games.
The teams were scoreless in the first two innings before Mylee Wilmes singled to center and took second and third on wild pitches. Hadley DeFreece walked, and Blair Nelson's fly ball to left was dropped as Wilmes scored. Jill Boswell walked and Brianna Meyer's pop fly single scored one. Nelson then came home on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.
But the heat and humidity began to turn up for the day, leading to a lot of errors and miscues by both teams in the next two games. Emma Mumm singled in the Aggies' third, went to second and third on passed balls, and came home on Avi Leabo's single to cut the Bluejay lead to 3-1.
Makenzie Pride walked to start the Bluejay fourth. Gracie Kohlleppel struck out and Mylee Wilmes flied out, but Hadley DeFreece kept the inning going with a single as Pride took third. DeFreece took off for second on a first and third situation, nobody covered, and Pride scored as DeFreece took third. Blair Nelson singled to score DeFreece to make it 5-1.
Skylar Gibson walked, went to second on Kelsey Nolker's groundout, and scored on Addison Schachtele's single to cut it to 5-2 in the Norborne/Hardin Central fourth.
Hailey Yost singled to center and went all the way to third on an error as the ball rolled through her legs. Lindsey Jackson grounded out to score her and make it 6-2 in the Bluejay fifth. Mackenzie Pride doubled to left and went to third on an errant cutoff throw and came home on Mylee Wilmes' pop fly single to right to make it 7-2.
But then the Aggies struck back as Millea Miller walked and Avi Leabo grounded out to advance her. A dropped third strike that got away put Sarah Mansur at first and Miller at third. Skylar Gibson singled in one run and put Mansur at third. Gibson stole second and Lilly Lyon reached on an error that scored two runs that cut it to 7-5.
Northeast got one run back in the sixth when Blair Nelson walked, Hailey Yost doubled to put runners on second and third, and Lindsey Jackson hit a shot off the shortstop's glove that scored Nelson to make it 8-5.
That turned out to be a key insurance run as Emma Munn singled to start the Aggie fifth, Libby Fifer grounded out to move her over, and Millea Miller hit what should have been a single, but panic set in and Northeast threw the ball around as Miller circled the bases as Norborne/Hardin-Central cut it to 8-7.
The heart of the Aggie order was coming up, but the Bluejays were able to settle down and strike out Avi Leabo and Sarah Mansur hit a sharp grounder that was fielded cleanly by Jill Boswell for the final out.
Worth County 11, Norborne/Hardin Central 10
The heat and humidity continued to grow, and all hell threatened to break loose in the first inning. Worth County tried to use Kristen Tracy against the Aggies, but they teed off on her, and the defense was not much of a help behind her. Two errors, a walk, a hit batter, and two Aggie hits later, the Tigers were in a 5-0 hole that they had to climb out of.
Brooklyn Richardson walked, Kambree Briner's pop fly to left field dropped in for a base hit, and they took second and third on a passed ball. Kristen Tracy singled to left, took second on the throw home, but was out trying for third. But the Tigers had cut their deficit to 5-2. Later, Kynah Steele, Brylee Rush, and Autumn Cousatte walked and Keira Hardy's pop fly behind the first base line was deep enough to score Steele to cut it to 5-3. Meanwhile, Richardson was able to come on to pitch in the second and stop the bleeding for the next three innings.
Richardson walked and stole second to start the Tiger second and Kambree Briner's chopper down the third base line turned into a scratch hit. Kristen Tracy grounded out as Richardson scored and Briner took second to make it 5-4. Kynah Steele reached on an error between the shortstop's legs as she made it all the way to second as Briner stopped at third. Briner scored on a wild pitch, and then Brylee Rush singled to score Steele to put the Tigers in front 6-5. Rush stole second and Cousatte singled to left to score Rush to make it 7-5 after two.
Worth County got another run in the third when Becca Smith got a scratch hit down the first base line, stole second, and then Brooklyn Richardson advanced her to third with a groundout, and Kambree Briner advanced her home with another to make it 8-5.
But sometimes, a team in a hole that comes back frequently uses all its energy up getting back in the game. Sure enough, with one out in the fifth, Avi Leabo walked for the Aggies. Walks lead to runs, and sure enough, Sarah Mansur beat out a scratch hit. Panic set in, the Tigers committed two errors in the inning, and Kelsey Nolker beat out a bunt hit for the Aggies. When the dust had settled, Norborne/Hardin-Central had scored four runs and had regained the lead at 9-8.
But then once again, somehow, Worth County got back off the floor down to their final inning with time expiring. With one out, Kristen Tracy singled to left and Kynah Steele walked. Brylee Rush grounded into a force at third, but the Aggies tried for the third and first double play that would have ended the game and threw it away as Kynah Steele crossed the plate to tie the game at 9-9.
With time expired, the International Tiebreaker went into effect and Carley Wooden took second for Norborne/Hardin-Central. Libby Fifer bunted her over to third and Millea Miller doubled her home to make it 10-9. They had a chance to add to their lead, but Worth County settled down and got Leabo to pop out to Kristen Tracy and Mansur to ground out to Kynah Steele to get out of the inning.
Worth County inserted Addison Gray to run for Autumn Cousatte for their half of the sixth. Keira Hardy grounded out to advance her and Rylee Ruckman tripled to bring her in and tie it at 10-10. The Aggies elected to walk both Becca Smith and Brooklyn Richardson intentionally to set up the force at home and brought their infield in for the force at the plate. But Kambree Briner hit a screamer for what would have been a triple and Ruckman crossed home with the winning run.
Worth County 3, King City 0
With the day cooling off and evening setting in after a hot afternoon, the two teams settled down and played much sharper in the finale. Worth County lost a fly ball in the sun in the first, but first baseman Kristen Tracy caught Wylie McKinnon's pop fly against the fence for the final out.
The game settled into a pitching duel between Brooklyn Richardson and Kamryn Miller similar to the North Harrison game. King City got a leadoff single in the second from Kenzie Pettijohn, who despite batting in the #6 hole, was the most dependable hitter for the Wildkats that day. But Brooklyn Richardson, who was working her third game, struck out the next three batters as she seemed to find her second wind after being hit hard in the first two games.
King City wasted a pair of singles in the third. In the Tiger third, they finally broke through as Rylee Ruckman hit a gapper to right center to lead off. Becca Smith advanced her over with a bunt, and Brooklyn Richardson grounded to third base. King City tried to go home with it, but Ruckman beat it out as Richardson reached safely. Kambree Briner hit a grounder to short; they tried for the force at second, but the ball rolled away as Richardson took third. She came home on a wild pitch as Briner took second. Kynah Steele singled her home to make it 3-0.
That turned out to be all the runs they would need. In the King City fourth, Kenzie Pettijohn hit a ball that caromed off Brooklyn Richardson's glove, but shortstop Kynah Steele threw her out on a close play. With two outs, Kaylee Roberts, the Wildkats' slap hitter, slapped a single to left that was misplayed into a double, but Brylin Armfield grounded out to end the threat. King City has made a living in the last few years scoring off late rallies, but this time, Richardson got stronger and stronger as the evening progressed, not allowing a hit after the fourth and retiring nine out of the last ten batters she faced.
The dagger came in the seventh when Roberts came up to bat again to lead off. A scratch hit would have been the perfect way to get something going, and she hit foul ball after foul ball on Brooklyn Richardson. But Richardson won the battle and struck her out and got the next two as well to clinch the tournament.
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