The Trenton Lady Bulldog softball team is no longer unbeaten, but it took a Division 1 recruit (Centralia’s Madison Preston) to hand THS its first season loss, as the Grand River Conference champions finished 3rd place in the tough Centralia Softball Tournament on Saturday.
Trenton’s bats were ready to go in the opener, a 14-4 quarterfinal victory over Hallsville. Trenton opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the 2nd inning, as HHS committed three errors, while Jaylen Neff and Ainsley Tolson cracked RBI singles. In the Hallsville third inning, Trenton freshman McKayla Blackburn allowed a three-run homer to Hallsville, knotting up the game at 3.
Trenton took back the lead for good with 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning, with a Salem Croy single scoring Tenna Roberts, a bases-loaded walk to Mason Hooyman scoring Neff, and a Jayden Roeder single bringing in Tolson.
Home runs by Neff (#2) and Croy (#5) over a 5th and 6th inning surge that saw the Bulldogs score eight runs, highlighted a 14-4, six inning victory for THS. Blackburn gave up four runs and seven hits over six innings of work, picking up her fourth victory of the season.
In the semifinals, Trenton gave up three unearned runs in the third inning to the #1 seed Centralia Lady Panthers. Two Trenton errors were costly in the early game slump, while Centralia powered a two-run homer off Trenton starter Ainsley Tolson to push the advantage to 5-0.
While Trenton lost 5-2, the Lady Bulldogs showed no quit against Centralia, loading the bases in the 6th inning. Salem Croy, with an opportunity to get Trenton back into the game, hit a hard ground-ball deflected for a 1-6-3 double play, scoring Roberts, but short-circuiting the THS rally. Mason Hooyman reached by error in the 7th inning, and was driven home on a Mykah Hurley double, making the final score 5-2. Trenton struggled to get its usual high-octane offense going against Centralia southpaw Madison Preston, an SEC commitment (University of Alabama) for Centralia.
Needing to rebound from a loss for the first time this season, Trenton played very well in the third place game, downing Monett 5-3. The first career home run by sophomore Taylor Richman, a solo shot in the 2nd inning, gave Trenton the lead. A Croy RBI single scored Neff in the third inning, for a 2-0 advantage.
Two runs by the Lady Cubs tied the game at 2 in the 4th inning, with the Lady Bulldogs taking the lead for good in the 5th, as Roberts walked and stole second, scoring on Neff’s second homer of the tournament (and third of the season). An Ainsley Tolson double kept the rally going, with Whitley Richman following with a single to bring home courtesy runner Shayla Woodside. With the exception of an unearned run in the 7th inning, Tolson shut out Monett after her team grabbed the lead, with Trenton winning 5-3.
Head Coach John Cowling was pleased with the Lady Bulldogs performance, saying “Even though we suffered our first loss this was still a good day for us. This is a competitive 8 team tournament and anytime you get two wins here it’s a good day. Jaylen Neff got her bat going and Tenna Roberts has really had a good two weeks at the plate. Twenty wins is always a goal for us and we’ve reached that with four regular season games left.”
Trenton, 20-1 on the season, hosts the Marceline Lady Tigers at 5 o’clock on Monday night for Trenton’s “Senior Night” contest. Pregame hits the air at 4:50 on Hot Country Z 101.7 and www.kgozfm.com.
