Northeast Nodaway’s girls won a wild 11-6 game over Worth County Monday in a game that took many twists and turns before the Bluejays finally closed out the win. Northeast had clinched at least a share of the Highway 275 conference against DeKalb and was looking to build on their momentum going into districts. Their coach, Payton (Adwell) Beason, wanted to beat her old school, and the two schools coop in three different sports, so naturally, they wanted to beat each other. Worth County dropped to 9-7 on the year. They are trying to clinch a winning season for the year, but they will have to wait a little longer. Their magic number for a winning season is two games.
At first, it looked like Worth County would take control of the game. Riley Ridge, moved from the ninth to the leadoff spot, hit a shot off Hadley DeFreece’s glove to start the first and into no man’s land and Kristen Tracy tripled her home to make it 1-0. Meanwhile. Braelyn Fletchall ran down a couple of balls in right field. In the second, singles by Keira Hardy, Addison Gray, and Riley Ridge brought in two more runs to make it 3-0.
By the third, it looked like it would not be the Bluejays’ night. With one out, Sasha Deardorff got the benefit of a close call and walked on a 3-2 pitch. She stole second successfully, getting just past the tag. But Baylie Busby hit a grounder to Rylee Ruckman at short, and Deardorff and Ruckman got tangled up and Deardorff was called out for interference since the fielder has the right of way to a batted ball. Tiger catcher Audrey Runde then gunned down Busby stealing, one of the rare times Busby has been caught.
With the game a rivalry game and neither side having school that day, there were a lot of mental errors on both sides, but Northeast played through theirs, while Worth County did not. Case in point was the third inning. Kristen Tracy singled and then a pair of errors put Megan Tracy on first and Kristen on third with one out. But then a botched double steal completely turned things around; Northeast threw it to Mylee Wilmes at short on the first and third situation; Kristen Tracy broke for home on the play and was gunned down. Megan Tracy then broke for third on the play at the plate, only to be gunned down for the third out.
That play gave Northeast hope, and Hadley DeFreece laid down a perfect bunt down the third base line. Keira Hardy tried to field it but slipped and fell and threw it away, putting Hadley on second. A pair of errors scored Hadley and put Lindsey Jackson on second, and Brianna Meyer singled to left to put Jackson on third. The cutoff got away and Meyer alertly took second on the play. Blair Nelson doubled to right center to tie it up at 3-3, but then she tried for third and was gunned down by Riley Ridge to kill the rally.
But the Bluejays overcame an error in the Tiger fourth as Hadley DeFreece struck out the next batter to get out of the inning. With two outs in the Bluejay fifth, Baylie Busby hit a high chopper just past Ruckman at short for a base hit and Hadley DeFreece hit a grounder that Keira Hardy deflected but couldn’t stop as DeFreece got a scratch hit. Lindsey Jackson singled home Busby to make it 5-3.
Northeast seemingly broke the game open in the sixth when Mylee Wilmes got a bad hop single past second into right field. Makenzie Pride advanced her to second and then Bristol Hicks, only a freshman, laid down a perfect bunt that died fair along the third base line to put runners on first and third. That set up a big inning as Sasha Deardorff got a slap hit to center to score won to make it 6-3 and put Hicks on second. Deardorff and Riley Ridge have established themselves as two of the top slap hitters in the area, and Hicks showed the potential to develop into another one.
Baylie Busby hit a pop fly to right center out of everyone’s reach to load the bases, and then Hadley DeFreece hit a shot off Keira Hardy’s glove that rolled into foul territory as two runs scored to make it 8-3 as Hadley took second on the throw home. Lindsey Jackson used her head and got plunked, and then Blair Nelson reached second on an error as two runs to make it 10-3. Mylee Wilmes beat out an infield hit to score another run to make it 11-3.
The momentum continued to be on Northeast’s side when Lindsey Jackson, battling a knee injury, ran down Megan Tracy’s drive in center, and Baylie Busby did a 180 to run down Keira Hardy’s foul pop in the Tiger sixth. They forced pitcher Kristen Tracy out of the game in the seventh, but when they ran themselves out of another potential big inning, and Tracy, now at first, caught a pop fly and doubled a Bluejay runner off first to get out of the seventh, the momentum swung back in Worth County’s favor.
Addison Gray, one of two bright spots for Worth County, hit a shot up the middle and Mylee Wilmes gloved it, but had no play. It was the third hit of the night for Gray. Braelyn Fletchall reached on an error, but Aubrey Fetters, inserted in left field, made a great play to keep a run from scoring. But the heart of the Tiger order was up, and Worth County has always been at its most dangerous when playing from behind in the last inning while NEN made closing out games an adventure for the second time in a row.
Riley Ridge, another bright spot for the Tigers, got yet another scratch hit when she hit a slow roller down the first base line and beat it out as Fletchall took second and Gray scored. Kambree Briner crushed one to the left center field wall, but Lindsey Jackson made a great play to keep a run from scoring.
Kristen Tracy was up, and she hit a grounder to Mylee Wilmes, who went to home for the force. Not only did Fletchall beat out the throw, the ball got away to score Ridge as well to make it 11-6.
But to show the kind of night Worth County was having, Audrey Runde laid down a bunt; instead of taking a run for an out, Hadley DeFreece came home with it and Kambree Briner was out in a rundown between third and home. Northeast then got Kristen Tracy out in a rundown between second and third for a double play, and Megan Tracy grounded out to end the game.
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The Bluejays were hopeful of a DeKalb win over Platte Valley to secure the 275 title outright. But after DeKalb downed Platte Valley 15-1 in the Mid-Buchanan Tournament that weekend, Platte Valley turned right around and beat DeKalb 7-3 Monday in the conference game. If Platte Valley beats Stewartsville/Osborn Thursday, they will share the conference title with NEN.
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North Andrew played spoiler Monday night, beating Princeton 7-6 to deny the Blue Tigers a share of the GRC West. That means Albany and Pattonsburg share the crown.
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Correction – Worth County was 12-9 in the 2022-23 season. If they win two more games, it would be their third straight winning season.
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Beware of the Shamrocks – After not winning a single game all year, North Harrison suddenly caught fire, starting with the second game of their home tournament. They beat Chillicothe JV 14-10, East Harrison 11-4, Norborne/Hardin Central 11-7, Stewartsville/Osborn 18-2, gave a tough Braymer squad everything they wanted before falling 15-11, and then beat Mercer 18-2. They have now won five out of their last six and are now in position to match or improve on last year’s seven win season.
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