Lady Beaver softball rallies against Colby; currently in extra innings with Goodland
Holcomb, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–There’s no doubt that the spring sports season has been a wild ride in efforts to get games in. With snow storms moving games around, rain delays and storm delays, you can now add another category to a reason for a game to be suspended. Add the daylight delay. That’s because on Tuesday, Scott City and Goodland gave the fans in attendance a roller coaster ride in a back and forth game, as play is suspended after 10 innings with a tie game at 11 in the Class 4A, Division II Regional championship game.
Scott City was able to rally late to win in walk-off fashion 6-5 over upset-minded Colby in one semi-final game, and Goodland held off Holcomb 9-7 in 10 innings in the second semi-final game. Holcomb ended their season at 12-7, while Goodland improved to 11-10.
Scott City 6, Colby 5
While the records showed that Scott City was the big favorite, someone forgot to tell Colby they would have a chance to win the game. The Lady Eagles would score the game’s first run in the top of the first on an RBI walk to take the early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the first, Scott City would get the first two batters aboard, then Macie Price crushed a ball over the left center field fence to give the Lady Beavers a 3-1 lead. That score would hold up until the fourth inning. After about a 40-minute storm delay, Colby cut the deficit to 3-2, on a Bailey Foss infield single that scored Paige Schroer. The Lady Eagles would retake the lead in the fifth with two outs, as Jersey Carney drove in two runs on a fielders choice on a throwing attempt to second to give Colby the 4-3 lead. They would add another run in the top of the seventh on a Schroer RBI triple that scored Chloe Imhoff to give the Lady Eagles a 5-3 lead. Scott City had one more at bat, and would take advantage of that. With two on and nobody out in the bottom of the seventh, Bailey Latta hit a two-run double that scored Karen Hermosillo and Krystal Appel to tie the game at 5. Two batters later, it was Kaitlyn Roberts’ RBI single into right field that scored Latta from third, and the Lady Beavers advanced to their first regional championship since 2011. Kaitlyn Roberts got the win, going all seven innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts. Macie Price had two hits and drove in three runs, while Roberts had two hits, and Latta drove in two runs. Bailey Foss took the loss for Colby, going six-plus innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits with one strikeout. Jersey Carney had two hits and drove in a pair of runs, while Alexsis Dennis and Paige Schroer had two hits each for the Lady Eagles. Colby ends their season at 5-14, while Scott City improved to 13-6.
Scott City 11, Goodland 11, (suspended after 10 innings)
In a wild affair, the Cowgirls started the game off with four runs on four hits in the top of the first inning before Scott City had their first turn to bat. The Lady Beavers would send 10 to bat, and answer with five runs on four hits to lead 5-4 after an inning. Karen Hermosillo capped off the scoring with a two-run double. In that inning, Goodland starter Brooke Drennan would be pulled, retiring just one batter. In relief would be Kaitlyn Daise. Scott City tacked on three more in the second inning on four hits to extend their lead to 8-4. The Cowgirls responded back with a run in the third, and the Lady Beavers added two more runs in the fourth to take a 10-5 lead. Goodland would start the comeback in the fifth inning, as they answered with a pair of runs on a two-run double by Taitem Ketter that scored Demi Mitchek and Kelsey White to pull them to 10-7. The Cowgirls scored once in the sixth to get to within 10-8. With a run home in the top of the seventh trailing 10-9, Drennon popped one up in the infield where no Lady Beaver could get to in time, scoring Ketter to tie the game at 10. Both teams would be scoreless over the next two innings, despite having runners aboard. In the top of the 10th inning, a Kelsey White RBI double scored Drennan to give the Cowgirls an 11-10 lead. As the daylight continued to go away, Scott City found a way to keep the game going in the bottom of the 10th. With two outs, Macie Price hit an RBI single that scored Bailey Latta to tie the game at 11. After the next out, umpires, administrators and coaches agreed to suspend the game, due to darkness. Kaitlyn Roberts threw all 10 innings for Scott City, giving up 11 runs on 15 hits with three strikeouts. Macie Price had four hits and drove in three runs, while Bailey Latta had four hits and scored three runs. Kaitlyn Daise pitched 9 2/3 innings for Goodland allowing seven runs on 13 hits with eight strikeouts. Brooke Drennan had four hits and scored four runs, while Kayleigh McCombs had three hits.
Scott City and Goodland will resume play in the top off the 11th on Wednesday at 4 pm in Holcomb. The Cowgirls will have the bottom third of the batting order due up, tied at 11.
