Lady Beaver softball falls in state tournament opener

Manhattan Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–Entering as the eight seed, Scott City knew it would be a tough challenge with the top seed Haven on Thursday in the Class 3A State Softball Tournament at Twin Oaks Complex. Little did they know that they would have to battle rain. The Wildcats would take advantage of walks in the second inning, as they would defeat Scott City 17-2 in a game that was called in the fourth inning, due to the run-rule.

Haven scored in the bottom of the first on a two-out, two-run single by Morgan O’Neil to make it 2-0. In the top of the second, the Lady Beavers would put two on thanks to two straight walks. The rain would start up and Scott City was unable to plate any runs. In the bottom of the second, the rain picked up and the Lady Wildcats would take advantage of several walks, which saw Scott City impacted by the weather. Nine runs scored in the frame, as Haven stretched their lead to 11-0.

The Lady Beavers got on the board in the third on a Crissa Irvin RBI single that scored Hannah Tucker. Haven added four more runs in the bottom of the frame to go up 15-1. Scott City added a run in the top of the fourth on a RBI groundout by Jordis Shaw that scored Mackayla Miller. The Wildcats scored two in the bottom of the frame, taking advantage of errors, and advanced to Friday’s semi-final with a 17-2 win.

Avery Brawner gave up two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts in four innings for Haven. Kelsi Kincaid had four RBI and Morgan O’Neil drove in three runs. Avery Brawner had two hits for Haven, who had just five in the contest.

Cheyenne Cramer had a tough outing, giving up 17 runs, 12 earned, on five hits with three strikeouts, and walked 15 batters. Criss Irvin and Jordis Shaw had an RBI. The Lady Beavers committed six errors.

Scott City ends their season at 16-8, after completing their second straight state tournament berth. Haven improved to 23-1, and will face Santa Fe Trail Friday in the semi-final round. Santa Fe Trail shut out Beloit 5-1. Southeast of Saline defeated Burlington 1-0 and Rossville downed Columbus 19-7 in quarterfinal play.