Monday, September 7, 2026

Tiger Softball Down to Last Nine Players

Worth County’s softball team is down to its last nine players following a 14-2 loss to Princeton Thursday.

On Tuesday, September 1st, the Tigers used a home run from Audrey Runde and two spectacular defensive plays from freshman Kaydence Downing to preserve a 2-0 win over North Andrew. Downing, playing right field, threw a runner trying to go from first to third and later made a shoestring catch for the final out of the game.

Against Princeton, pitcher Kristen Tracy sprained an ankle early in the game, and things went from bad to worse as Princeton, who went to state last year and who has everyone back this year, pounded the ball all night long. The demoralized Tigers made ten errors in the loss.

It is not known when Tracy will be back. By rule, if a team can’t start with nine players, they can’t play. Some teams have players that can bat, but can’t field, or vice versa; when a team doesn’t have nine players they can send to the plate, they take an automatic out.

Under MSHSAA rules, it is past the deadline to form an emergency cooperative. There was talk about a softball cooperative between Northeast Nodaway and Worth County last year, but the Bluejays have a lot more players out this year. After the MSHSAA assigns districts for the year which it has, then it is too late to form a cooperative.

A new player could join the squad mid-season, but they must complete MSHSAA-required 14 days of conditioning and have a physical and health insurance on file with the school. Exceptions are if the athlete in question is a member of the golf team or the cheer squad; then, they are not subject to the 14-day requirement.

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