The Trenton Lady Bulldogs, bolstered by strong relief pitching from junior right-hander Jenna Reeter, held on for a 10-9 victory at Bulldog Field in Gallatin on Monday night, in softball action broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3.
The game was a back-and-forth duel for the first five innings of action, with the teams routinely trading the lead back and forth, before Reeter and Gallatin’s Caragan Baker were able to settle down their teams defensively, with Trenton held scoreless for the final two innings of play, while Reeter, in the course of striking out three batters in both the 4th and 7th innings, held Gallatin hitters to one hit and two runs, both unearned, over the final five innings to earn the win. Gallatin’s only hit off Reeter was a single by Baker in the fourth inning, which followed a lead-off walk to Ashley Feiden. Both runners came across the plate to give Gallatin a 9-8 lead, with Feiden scoring on a wild pitch and Baker on a passed ball. The only baserunner for Galltin for the rest of the game came on a fourth inning walk to Ella Bradford and a one-out seventh inning free pass, again to Bradford.
Trenton took the lead for good with two 5th inning runs, scored by courtesy runner Jaycie Griffin on a wild pitch, and by Chandler Lynch, who reached on a fielder’s choice groundball, went to second on the wild pitch, and scored via a Gallatin error.
The visitors out of THS started very fast against Gallatin’s AnnaBelle Ball, scoring five runs in the top of the first inning. A Maci Moore single scored Chandler Lynch, with Madi Moore scoring on a grounder to short by Teya Cooksey. Maci Moore scored on a wild pitch, with a two-run, two-out single by Eliana Cowling scoring Chloe Harris and Jenna Reeter.
Gallatin stormed back in loud fashion off of Trenton starter Emma Roberts, with Baker cracking a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to make the score 5-2. The home team batted 10 and scored five runs to take a brief 7-5 lead in the bottom of the third inning, with a Presley Wells triple starting the frame. Feiden had a single, Baker a base on balls, Betty Rogers a single, and Carli Beck a two-run double, chasing Roberts and bringing in Reeter. Reeter was able to keep the deficit at two, getting out of further trouble on pop-outs by Addie Riley and Presley Wells.
Trenton, down 7-5, took a brief 8-7 in the top of the fourth inning, as a single by Madi Moore and intentional walk to Maci Moore were followed by an RBI single by Teya Cooksey, and a two-run single by Jenna Reeter. Gallatin had three pitchers work in the contest, with Ball followed to the slab by Ella Bradford and Caragan Baker.
Trenton, now 4-11 on the season and 2-5 in the Grand River Conference, moves into a tie in the “two win column” for the potential fifth seed in the GRC Eastern Division, pending Gallatin’s result on Tuesday night at Maysville. Gallatin, falling to 3-8 overall and 2-3 in GRC play, goes to Maysville on Tuesday night and hosts Princeton on Wednesday night, however, the Princeton result will have no bearing on seeds for Thursday’s “crossover” GRC games, as those matchups will be set after play concludes on Tuesday night. Trenton and Gallatin, both with two wins in GRC play, could be, potentially, in that four-way tie for seeding with Milan and Princeton. As the standings sit currently, the #5 Eastern seed will play at Worth County on Thursday night, with the #6 seed at Pattonsburg. The GRC East’s #7 and #8 seed will play one another in Thursday night, due to the disparity of teams in each division, with the East holding eight schools, and the west sitting at six. Trenton, having beat Milan and Gallatin head-to-head, and losing to Princeton, is hopeful that 2-1 head-to-head record will work out well for the Bulldogs. Princeton lost to Milan but beat Trenton. Milan lost to Trenton but beat Princeton, along with an early season loss to Gallatin.
Other softball scores from Monday, September 28, 2020 were:
Albany 7, North Harrison 1
Platte Valley 18, North Andrew 2
South Harrison 15, Stanberry 4
Atlanta 8, Green City 3
Kirksville 8, Mexico 2
Chillicothe 8, St. Joseph Lafayette 0
