Andale-Garden Plain wins in 4A softball
SALINA — Any nerves Andale-Garden Plain had in its Class 4A softball quarterfinal Friday was erased with a four-run third inning and Sydnee Eck’s pitching.
“Obviously, we were a little nervous coming out,” Andale-Garden Plain coach Doris Hein said after a 6-0 victory over Clay Center. “We threw well on the mound and the offense came away with some key hits. I’m just relieved to get that first win. With this one under our belt, hopefully we won’t be quite as nervous going into tomorrow.”
Eck allowed two hits in the shutout. Hein said she plans on sticking with Eck in the semifinals against Paola today.
“It’s always good to come out like that and start things off with a nice win,” Eck said. “I think we got rid of everyone’s nerves. Everyone feels good going into tomorrow.”
St. James Academy 1, Rose Hill 0 — Rose Hill coach Kathy Santo walked to the pitcher’s circle in the seventh inning to meet with her pitcher Keelyn Bonar and the rest of the Rocket infield.
The message was simple, Santo said. She wanted her team to calm down and do what they did in the previous six innings.
“I told them the same thing that (Bonar) told them,” Santo said. “We got this. We can get the force out at home. We just need to play solid defense and make the play at home.”
Up until the seventh inning, Bonar had helped keep St. James scoreless. She’d struck out 10 and held the Thunder to one hit.
“It’s routine for her. She deserved to be in that pitcher’s circle at the state tournament,” Santo said. “As a coach, you just keep riding that horse. She’s so confident out there.”
St. James loaded the bases in the seventh with help from a Rose Hill error. With no outs, St. James freshman Caroline Lipp hit an infield single to shortstop to drive in Lydia Budke for the win.
“Losing is never fun,” Bonar said. “We had a few mistakes. We had the chance, we just couldn’t follow through with it. We just didn’t stay focused and relaxed in those keys moments at the end.”
Rose Hill had also struggled on offense. St. James pitcher Jesslyn Buie held the Rockets to two hits in the shutout and retired the final 15 Rose Hill batters.
“It’s the best game she’s pitched all year for us,” St. James coach Kerri Elstrun said. “She also had a great defense backing her up today. The defense was exceptional.”
Paola 9, Pratt 5 — Paola pulled off the only upset of the 4A quarterfinals with a win over the No. 3 seed.
Paola struck early with a two-run homer by Cheyenne Rankin in the first inning. Down 6-3, Pratt closed the gap with two runs in the fourth inning, but was outscored 3-0 in the final three innings.
Basehor-Linwood (16-8) 000 000 0 — 0 5 1
Girard (24-0) 100 001 x — 2 5 0
W—Dunlap. L—Redmond.
Clay Center (18-6) 000 000 0 — 0 2 3
Andale-Garden Plain (21-1) 004 020 x — 6 7 3
W—Eck. L—Jones.
Rose Hill (19-5) 000 000 0 — 0 2 2
St. James Academy (21-3) 000 000 1 — 1 3 0
W—Buie. L—Bonar.
Paola (20-4) 212 110 2 — 9 11 6
Pratt (21-3) 030 200 0 — 5 þ8 4
W—Morgan. L—Hill. HR—Paola, Rankin.