The Trenton Lady Bulldogs shook off any lingering effects of a sub-par fourth inning, extending a 7-3 lead with six unanswered tallies, in a 13-3, six inning victory over Polo, broadcast Tuesday night on Hot Country Z 101.7.
THS, like they had on Saturday in winning the Putnam County Tournament, started strong, as Jaylen Neff, Ainsley Tolson, and Salem Croy all reached first base in the bottom of the first inning. With the middle of the lineup putting the ball in play, Neff and Tolson scored via a single, and Whitley Richman, after singling in her at-bat, scored on a Mason Hooyman fielders choice.
Up 3-0 going into the bottom of the 3rd inning, Trenton added four runs, with Taylor Richman, Hooyman, Jayden Roeder, and Lexi Whitaker crossing the plate. Whitaker had the game’s biggest hit, a bases clearing triple, before scoring on a bad throw by Polo from catcher to pitcher.
Trenton opened the Polo 4th with back-to-back errors. Two walks and a bloop 2 run single by Megan Latimer later, Polo had cut the lead to 7-3. Ainsley Tolson slammed the door on the Panthers from that point, while the Bulldog offense continued to sizzle, scoring one in the 4th inning on a Whitley Richman double, three more in the 5th, and two in the 6th to end the game. Jayden Roeder, in the 6th, doubled in Mykah Hurley, and later scored on a Polo fielding error to finish off the 13-3 contest.
Tolson gave up three runs, all unearned, with two walks and 13 strikeouts. The sophomore right-hander is now 8-0. Trenton, 10-0 overall and a perfect 5-0 in the Grand River Conference, will host third-place Milan on Thursday night (weather permitting) at 5:30. That game will be broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3, with audio streaming from www.kttn.com, as Dennis Stephenson provides play-by-play from Griffin Field.
Milan tuned up for its Trenton trip with a dominant beating of South Harrison, 17-2 on Tuesday night. Maysville grabbed a quality GRC win over Gallatin 13-3, while on Monday, Putnam County rolled to a 13-2 win at Princeton, keeping the Lady Midgets (3-0) unbeaten in GRC play. Putnam County has make-up games scheduled with Gallatin and Polo, and is slated to play at Trenton, perhaps with a divisional championship on the line, on Tuesday, September 13th. A Milan win at Trenton on Thursday would quickly change that scenario, making the GRC East a three-team race down the stretch. Putnam County has already beat Milan head-to-head, 11-1 on August 24th.
In the GRC West, Stanberry is slowly establishing themselves as the team to beat, as the Lady Bulldogs had little difficulty against North Andrew on Tuesday night, taking down the Lady Cardinals, 17-0. King City cruised to a 12-3 win over Pattonsburg, while Worth County scored a run in the bottom of the 7th inning to clip nearby rival Albany, 6-5 in Grant City.
Braymer was the only GRC West team not in conference play on Tuesday night, the Lady ‘Cats took one on the chin against defending state champion (Class 2) Lathrop, 10-0 in 5 innings.
In other softball finals across the region, Hamilton stomped Notre Dame de Sion 16-5, DeKalb slipped past Mid-Buchanan 10-8, Chillicothe claimed a 3-2 victory over Cameron in 8 innings, Marceline shutout Schuyler County 4-0, Maryville doubled up Savannah 2-1, Knox County beat Scotland County 4-2, Novinger took a 9-4 win over Brashear, LaPlata took down Bucklin 6-2, Green City hammered Linn County 17-4, and Meadville outscored Atlanta 18-9.
