Worth County’s softball team used a frantic rally in the fifth to force extra innings and rode the arm of Megan Tracy to a 10-7 win over North Harrison in eight innings, snapping a two-game losing streak. After their forgettable 14-2 loss to Princeton, they had to turn around and play Stanberry, another contender in the GRC West. Kristen Tracy’s ankle healed faster than expected, and she got to bat, but Stanberry completely outplayed Worth County, building up an 8-3 lead. But then Worth County put together a frantic rally in the seventh, scoring four runs before coming up short 8-7 in a game that all but knocked them out of the GRC West title race.
Princeton is unbeaten for the season. They have three conference games left, with North Harrison, North Andrew, and Albany, and unless they drop at least two of them and Worth County wins out, Worth County will be out of the running this year.
The good news for Worth County for Thursday’s game was that Kristen Tracy healed up enough to the point where she played part of the game. If she comes back healthy this week, the Tigers will have plenty to play for even if the GRC West title is out of reach for this year.
North Harrison has been searching for their first win, but they got out of the first inning with no damage done when Kaydence Downing walked, only for shortstop Lani Briggs to pull off a 6-3 double play.
Worth County has been trying three different pitchers in Kristen Tracy’s absence. Kaydence Downing started but fought the strike zone in walking Lani Briggs and Jaxcynn Hansel. Ava Rinehart beat out an infield hit, but Worth County threw to third to force out Briggs. Hali Smith doubled to right center to score one. Ava Rinehart scored on a wild pitch. Addison Milligan flied out to score Hali Smith to put the Shamrocks up 3-0.
Worth County got one back in the second. Braelyn Fletchall and Addison Gray singled and Keira Hardy walked to load the bases. Brooklyn Smith grounded out to put Worth County on the board.
They tried Brooklyn Smith on the mound, and she held the line in the second. Jaxcynn Hansel singled and Ava Rinehart walked, but Hali Smith forced Hansel at third for the final out.
The Tigers knotted it up in the third. With one out, Kambree Briner singled to left and took second on a wild pitch. Audrey Runde reached first on a dropped throw as the ball got away, scoring Briner to make it 3-2. Megan Tracy grounded out to advance Runde. Braelyn Fletchall hit a pop fly to right center; three different Shamrocks chased it, but it dropped for her second hit as Runde scored to tie it at 3-3.
Raegan Hogan walked and Addison Milligan singled. Katherine Parkhurst singled to load the bases. Becca Welling walked to force in a run to make it 4-3 and turn over the lineup. The Shamrocks started teeing off on Smith, with Lani Briggs and Jaxcynn Hansel getting singles to make it 6-3. Ava Rinehart grounded into a force, but another run scored to make it 7-3.
But Worth County has been playing from behind all year. They were down 3-0 against Stanberry in the tournament and came back. They were down 2-0 against King City and came back. They were down 8-3 against Stanberry and nearly came back. After Megan Tracy stopped the bleeding on the mound, Kaydence Downing singled just past Jaxcynn Hansel at third. The ball got away, and she took second. Kambree Briner singled to center. Audrey Runde walked. They took second and third on a passed ball. Braelyn Fletchall singled to right to score two to make it 7-6. Addison Gray grounded out to advance her to second. Fletchall took third on a wild pitch. Keira Hardy hit a golf swing and hit a soft sinking line drive that second baseman Shayla Vandiver dove for but couldn’t come up with as Fletchall scored on the scratch hit to tie it at 7-7. It would have been worse had not shortstop Lani Briggs snagged Kristen Tracy’s screamer backhanded for the tine out.
Megan Tracy set the Shamrocks down in order in the fifth, while Lani Briggs relieved Hali Smith on the mound and stopped the bleeding. Smith, now at short, snagged Megan Tracy’s sinking line drive on the backhand to keep Worth County off the basepaths in the top of the sixth.
Ava Rinehart walked to start the Shamrock sixth. Hali Smith flied out to Kaydence Downing in right, and Raegan Hogan hit a screamer to left, but Brooklyn Smith snagged it with a backhand to rob her of extra bases. Addison Milligan reached on an error, but pitcher Megan Tracy struck out Shayla Vandiver to end the inning.
Katherine Parkhurst hit the ball as hard as she has all her life and hit a sinking line drive to center, but Tiger centerfielder Addison Gray dove to her knees and caught it for the first out. Becca Welling was called out on strikes. Lani Briggs singled and Jaxcynn Hansel hit a seeing-eye single between third and short. Ava Rinehart was intentionally walked. Megan Tracy threw Hali Smith some high, hard heat and struck her out to preserve the tie.
Brooklyn Smith and Kristen Tracy walked to start the Tiger eighth. Jane Hawk ran for Tracy. Smith and Hawk took second and third on a wild pitch. Kambree Briner singled to center, and the ball got away as she took second as the Tigers broke the tie and took a 9-7 lead. Audrey Runde hit a towering fly ball to left, but Becca Welling snagged it for the second out. Megan Tracy hit a pop fly over Hali Smith at short and stretched a single into a double as Briner scored to make it 10-7.
Raegan Hogan hit a slap but Kambree Briner, who was stationed right next to Megan Tracy on the mound to guard against the slap, scooped it up for the first out. Addison Milligan walked, but Shayla Vandiver struck out. Katherine Parkhurst crushed another solid knock down the left field line. It was well into foul territory, but Brooklyn Smith nearly crashed into the wall as she snagged it for the final out.
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Will and Linda Brown were there to cheer on Megan and Kristen Tracy, who were fixtures in Linda’s office when they were kids, Linda was the country treasurer, and Julie Tracy was the collector at the Courthouse. But they were also there to cheer on their great-granddaughter, Katherine Parkhurst.
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