Lady Cats Win District Title Over Van-Far
Defending State Champions Will Take On Highland In State Sectional On Wednesday
The defending state champion Bowling Green Lady Cats won their fifth straight district title with a 3-1 victory over (3) Van-Far in the Class 2 District 8 tournament on Saturday, Oct. 13.
It was three big solo home runs that secured the district crown from the bats of Grace Dameron, Gabi Deters and Haylee Chandler.
The game went scoreless in the first inning. With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Dameron hit one high that held up and went over the left field fence to put the Lady Cats on top by a run.
Van-Far evened the score in the top of the fourth inning. Jordan Garner led off the inning with a single. Jayle Jennings blasted a hard hit just over the glove of Bowling Green first baseman Jade Meier to bring Garner home. Jennings made it to second on a groundout of Mallory Williams but Lady Cats pitcher Sarah Harness ended the threat with a strike out to Devyn Keller.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out Deters blasted a solo homer over the scoreboard. Then Chandler sent one over the fence in right center to put the Lady Cats up by two runs.
In the top of the seventh Jennings led off the inning for the Lady Indians and made it to first base on an error but Harness struck out the next batter followed by two ground-outs to end the game.
Harness turned in another big game for the Lady Cats surrendering just two hits in seven innings and striking out 10 to earn the Community State Bank TribCast Player of the Game.
Jennings was tagged with the loss for Van-Far giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out five.
Garner and Jennings had the only hits for Van-Far.
Bowling Green got hits from Morgen Billings, Madeline Norton and Kinley Charlton in addition to the home runs. Dameron had a double in addition to her home run.
Bowling Green Downs Louisiana In Semifinal
The Lady Cats knocked off (4) Louisiana in the championship semifinal, 7-1.
Louisiana took the lead in the top of the first inning. Faith Rule led off with a single followed by a hit from Autumn Castagna. Rule scored on a ground-out by Abby Moore.
The Lady Bulldogs got a runner to third in the top of the second but Harness shut down the threat with a pair of strike-outs. Maria Gutierrez had a two-out triple in the top of the sixth, followed by a walk to Moore, but the Bowling Green defense stepped up to prevent another run from scoring.
Bowling Green scored two runs in the third, two in the fourth, two in the fifth and a run in the sixth.
Gutierrez picked up the loss giving up seven runs on 11 hits and one strike-out.
Harness was the winning pitcher, giving up one run on just three hits and racked up 15 Ks. She was also 3-4 with two RBIs to earn the Community State Bank TribCast Player of the Game.
Billings, Deters and Chandler were each 2-4 with a RBI each in the semifinal.
The Lady Cats will continue their postseason run with the sectional game on Wednesday, Oct. 17. Bowling Green will travel to Highland (14-9-1). The game is slated to start at 5 p.m. and will be featured on TribCast. Both of the district games are in the TribCast archive and can be accessed, along with photos, at www.thepeoplestribune.com.
Van-Far Destroys Elsberry In District Semifinal
Despite being down by five runs early, the (3) Van-Far Lady Indians dismantled (2) Elsberry in the district semifinal 23-7.
The game featured a little bit of everything from some small ball to three big home runs.
Van-Far scored in the top of the first. Makayla McAfee reached on a bunt and then scored on an RBI hit by Devyn Keller.
Elsberry returned fire in the bottom of the first, plating five runs. Elsberry added another run in the second inning to lead 6-1 going into the top of the third.
Van-Far scored three runs on a two-RBI double by Mallory Williams and an RBI single by Haley Baskett.
Van-Far added four more in the fourth, two in the fifth on a homer by Jordan Garner. Van-Far sealed the win with a 13-run seventh inning that featured another homer by Garner and a home run from McAfee.
Garner was 3-6 with five RBIs, McAfee was 4-6 with an RBI, Jayle Jennings was 3-6 with two RBIs, Williams was 3-6 with four RBIs, Keller was 3-6 with four RBIs, Baskett was 5-6 with three RBIs, Aubrey Bunge had an RBI hit and Alyse Jensen was 3-5 in the semifinal.
Jennings picked up the win giving up seven runs on seven hits and stricking out eight.
Both of Van-Far’s district games are in the TribCast archive and can be accessed, along with photos, at www.thepeoplestribune.com.
Louisiana Defeats Mark Twain In District Opener
Louisiana took down (5) Mark Twain in the Class 2 District 5 opening round with a 5-3 victory.
Mark Twain got on the board first with a run in the top of the second inning but Louisiana claimed the lead in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs.
Faith Rule led off the third with a walk followed by a bunt from Autumn Castagna. Both runs came across on errors.
Mark Twain plated two in the top of the fourth to lead 3-2 until Louisiana struck again in the bottom of the sixth.
Stephanie Mills and Marin Powers each singled and Michelle Watts reached on an error. All three runs scored due to fielding errors by Mark Twain.
Castagna, Mills, Powers and Gretchen Capps each had hits in the semifinal.
Rule picked up the win in the circle for the Lady Bulldogs giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out five to earn the Community State Bank TribCast Player of the Game.
Both of Louisiana’s games are in the TribCast archive and can be accessed, along with photos, at www.thepeoplestribune.com.
