Worth County took care of business on their senior night, getting their 15th win and beating Maysville 10-1 Thursday. Audrey Runde hit one over the fence in the opener for the junior high Tigers, well over the left field wall as the Tigers used a frantic rally before coming up short 9-8.
Maysville, behind the pitching of Elana Clark, had been playing everyone tough this year; of their 11 losses before Thursday's game, 10 of them were by five runs or less, including a 3-0 loss to powerhouse Polo in 13 innings. They also have wins over Albany and Plattsburg to their credit.
Clark, who also carries the Wolverines with her bat, hit a two out triple in the first, but was stranded when Hailey Lemunyon grounded out to Kambree Briner at second. Worth County jumped on Maysville when Brooklyn Richardson walked and stole second and Briner advanced her to third. Kristen Tracy walked, and on the return throw to the pitcher, Richardson, who broke even before the catcher began her throw, made it for the first Tiger run. Kynah Steele singled to left, Maysville threw it around, and Steele circled the bases scoring both herself and Briner to make it 3-0.
But after Rylee Ruckman was plunked by Clark to start the second, she settled down and mowed down the next seven Tiger batters. Meanwhile, Sophia Redman walked with one out in the Maysville third, took second on a wild pitch, advanced after Sam Gripka's shot caromed off Brooklyn Richardson's glove to Kynah Steele at short, and scored on a wild pitch to cut it to 3-1.
Keira Hardy finally broke the streak in the Tiger fourth with a single and a steal, only to wander too far off on Rylee Ruckman's shot to first base and was doubled off to end the inning.
In the Maysville fifth, the lower part of the order was coming up, but Lille Mygatt singled and Catelyn Vessar beat out a scratch hit to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Sydney Popplewell moved them over with a bunt and it looked like Maysville had the big inning set up to tie or take the lead. But Tiger pitcher Brooklyn Richardson got her biggest pitch of the night when she froze Redman for strike three, which prompted plenty of chirping from the Maysville side, but it didn't change the call. If Sam Gripka could get on, then Clark would have been next and anything could have happened. But she hit a tricky chopper that Kynah Steele fielded cleanly and threw to first for the final out.
When Becca Smith stepped up to the plate, everybody knew she was going to either bunt or slap it, and it didn't matter as she roped one past third for a base hit to start the Tiger fifth. Brooklyn Richardson crushed a triple to left center field and scored Smith, and then Kambree Briner reached when the second baseman dropped a pop fly. Richardson was caught between third and home, but Maysville threw the ball away and Richardson scored and Briner took second. Kristen Tracy went after a high pitch, but topped it and hit it into center as Briner scored and Tracy took second on the throw home. Kynah Steele struck out, but it was dropped, and on the throw to first, Tracy took third. Brylee Rush reached on a bobble and Tracy scored to make it 7-1.
The fact that Worth County got the last three outs of the fifth inning after runners were on first and second meant that the bases were empty for Clark when she batted to start the Maysville sixth. She singled, but Hailey Lemunyon popped out to Steele, Brooke Sterling struck out, and Ashlyn Clark grounded out to Tracy as the Wolverines once again came out empty-handed.
Rylee Ruckman hit a Texas leaguer that dropped in left for a base hit and stole second. Becca Smith refused to go down, fouling off a bunch of pitches, and was rewarded when she was plunked in the head to put runners on first and second. Worth County nearly wasted their chance as Brooklyn Richardson struck out and Kambree Briner popped out, but Kristen Tracy beat out a grounder to third to keep the inning going. A wild pitch got away on the first base side, just far enough for Ruckman to break for home and dive under the tag to make it 8-1. Kynah Steele hit one into no man's land between the mound and short for a scratch hit to score Smith, and Brylee Rush singled to score Tracy to make it 10-1.
Lille Mygatt beat out an infield hit to start the Wolverine seventh, but Catelyn Vessar grounded out to first and Brooke Sterling hit a line shot right at Tracy. She whirled around and threw a strike to double Mygatt off second for the final out.
For Worth County, it was the last home game for Brooklyn Richardson, Kynah Steele, Becca Smith, Autumn Cousatte, and Brylee Rush.
Richardson had to play down her freshman year so that the junior high Tigers would have a team, but she moved up the ladder and showed the ability to win big games for the Tigers, beating North Harrison 5-0 in districts and Platte Valley 4-2 at Platte Valley in 2021, replicating the feat this year with an 8-3 win. She tossed a no-hitter against East Harrison that year and another in 2022 in a summer ball game against Hopkins in which the Tigers honored the late Aivry Griffin. Brooklyn has morphed into one of the most competitive players on the squad. One time during a Friday practice in preseason, when the team was scrimmaging for fun, Brooklyn got called out on strikes by teammate Autumn Cousatte and drew a line to show where she thought the pitch was. Naturally, Autumn drew a line to show where she thought the pitch was. There was also the time when Brooklyn was working on a no-hitter against Platte Valley, one of the top hitting teams in the area, and ate a pretzel in between the fifth and sixth innings, only for Maggie Collins to break the no-hitter with a home run. Worth County still won 8-3. She is also a constant threat to steal bases, getting to where she can steal third at will. She pulled off a delayed steal of home in Thursday's win.
Kynah Steele has become one of the biggest power hitters that the team has produced. Periodically a threat to yank it out of the yard, she has anchored down shortstop since two years ago. She will sell herself out for the team; she refused to come out of the North Harrison game at the tournament there after tweaking her hip while swinging at a pitch; she turned around and got a base hit and she later sold herself out to take a base hit away from one of the Shamrocks and somehow get a forceout at third. Against Northeast Nodaway this year, she dove, gloved a ball seemingly headed up the middle, and tagged second to get a force. And in the Tigers' first win over North Harrison, it was her leadoff triple that sparked the Tiger rally that got them the win.
Brylee Rush has quietly improved her game every year she has been through the program. Her efforts this year were rewarded with her first ever home run to spark Worth County's 7-0 win over Stanberry. She has become one of coach Tiffany Bliley's most dependable outfielders, catching everything hit her way.
Autumn Cousatte overcame a knee injury in basketball the last two years to become a dependable catcher for the Tigers. Having come up through the 'Lil Tigers football program, she is not afraid of physical contact. On three occasions her sophomore year, she had an epic collision at home plate, only for then-coach Haley Hunt to come out with a bottle of water she had handy. Apparently, the water had a secret elixir in it, because after a few minutes, Autumn would be fine and the game would resume. She has surprised teams with her speed, such as the time last year against Green City when she hit a slow roller down the third base line, caught the Gophers napping, and successfully stretched a single into an infield double.
The highlight of Becca Smith's career was two years ago, when with North Harrison knowing what was coming, she beat out three bunt hits for the Tigers despite their 6-4 loss that game. She was out for the year last year with a knee injury, but worked hard to recuperate and regain her form this year. Against Maysville, with the Wolverines knowing she was going to bunt or slap, she crushed one past the third baseman anyway to spark the rally which broke the game open for the Tigers. She later refused to go down, fouled a bunch of pitches off, and was rewarded when she was plunked in the helmet to spark another Tiger rally.
The Tigers have now won 15 games, their most since the 2005 season, when they went to state. The Tigers matched the most runs anyone has scored on the Wolverines this year; South Harrison was the only other team to tag them with 10 runs. They held Maysville to their third lowest run total this year as well. The Tigers were also rewarded with the top seed in districts this year out of ten teams. But they have to keep getting better, as Platte Valley broke a three game skid with a shocking 14-0 win over Benton that night.
The junior high Tigers dug themselves into a 9-2 hole, only to mount a frantic rally in the last inning to score six and make it 9-8. It was capped off by Audrey Runde's over the fence home run, the first one that Coach Cody Green could remember. Addison Gray hit a home run last year, but it was inside the park. Brooklyn Smith had a double and a single; the scary thing is that she is only in sixth grade. Audrey Runde had two singles and her home run. Megan Tracy hit a carom that went off the pitcher's glove for a single.
In the field, Megan Tracy had a catch. Jane Hawk backed up a wild pickoff throw from Audrey Runde in right field and gunned down a runner at second. Audrey Runde threw a runner off stealing and picked another runner off first. Brooklyn Smith caught a pop fly at shortstop.
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