Worth County survived a wild night and Platte Valley suffered a rare meltdown as the Tigers erased a 9-2 third inning deficit and survived the loss of one of their key players as they came back to win 14-13. They were already down Rylee Ruckman (surgery), and lost Audrey Runde, who could bat but not field (elbow).
At first, it looked like Platte Valley could do no wrong as they unloaded on Kristen Tracy and scored the first three runs of the game in the first inning.
Worth County got two runs back in its half of the first as Runde singled and Kambree Briner doubled her home. Kristen Tracy reached on a dropped third strike and Megan Tracy doubled to right center to plate. Briner. But Kristen Tracy hesitated thinking the ball might be caught and then tried to score from first and was thrown out to swing the momentum back to Platte Valley’s favor.
The Tigers should have been out of the third inning, but back to back errors, a grounder rolling under someone’s legs and a dropped throw fueled the Platte Valley rally as they teed off on Tracy, who fought the strike zone and walked two batters before she was finished.
Megan Tracy came on in relief with the score 7-3, and a throwing error gave Platte Valley two more runs before freshman second baseman Kennedy Murphy caught a pop fly and a grounder to Kambree Briner finally ended the inning.
Worth County chipped away as Runde singled to start the Tiger third, took second on a wild pitch, and third on a wild throw by the catcher as Kambree Briner grounded out to get her home. Kristen Tracy doubled off the wall in left and Megan Tracy hit a squib in front of the plate and Kristen scored all the way from second to cut it to 9-4.
With the lower part of the Tiger order coming up in the fourth, Platte Valley still looked to be in control, but Rayleigh Smith crushed a single to lead off the inning and all the floodgates opened for the Tigers. Evalyn Gilland had two strikes on her and hit what looked like a routine force at second, but nobody covered the bag and everyone was safe. Eighth grader Kaydence Downing, pressed into service, stretched a single into a double to score Smith.
With the heart of the Tiger order coming to bat, all of a sudden, they could do no wrong. Audrey Runde singled, Kambree Briner singled, Kristen Tracy doubled, and Megan Tracy, Addison Gray, and Keira Hardy singled. By the time the dust had settled, the Platte Valley lead was gone and Worth County was up 10-9.
Kennedy Murphy grounded into a force at home, but then Gray scored on a wild pitch, Rayleigh Smith grounded out to score one, and Evalyn Gilland singled as the Tigers took a 13-9 lead.
But Platte Valley doesn’t give up easily, and the heart of their order was coming up. Sure enough, they hit a triple off Megan Tracy, and Worth County helped them along with a hit batter, a dropped throw, and a walk as they tied the game at 13. Finally, they turned a 1-6-3 double play to get out of the inning with the game still tied.
Things looked to be OK as the heart of Worth County’s order came up and the bottom of Platte Valley’s order was coming up in the sixth inning, which is the last inning in town ball. But disaster struck as Kambree Briner made an ill-advised dash to second after a dropped fly. Not only was she out by a mile, she injured her shoulder trying to fling herself into the bag and was done for the night as the Tigers came up empty-handed.
Down to eight players, they pressed junior high player Kinley Fletchall into service at first base for the Platte Valley sixth. She had played first base in the past, but is more normally used as a pitcher or a shortstop. But she played first base like a seasoned veteran, stretching to grab two throws as Platte Valley could not take advantage.
Finally, Megan Tracy doubled off the wall in right field and took third on a wild pitch. Platte Valley tried to pick her off third, and there was a heart-stopping moment as Addison Gray hit a hard shot off Findley Moutray’s glove, which could have been a double play. But Moutray could not hold on and Gray, who hesitated thinking it was caught, scrambled to first. The throw was off-line towards the first base side and Gray beat the tag attempt. Finally, an errant pitch got away and Tracy scored the winning run.
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