The North Central Missouri College softball team was downed by Maple Wood 7-5 and Jefferson 6-4 in action on Friday and Saturday mornings from the Division 1, Region 16 tournament in Joplin, with the losses ending North Central’s season in the double-elimination event.
The Lady Pirates started the tournament in strong fashion, scoring twice in the bottom of the 1st inning of Game #1 against Maple Woods, but the Monarchs put NCMC “behind the 8 ball” with five runs in the top of the 2nd inning. The see-saw affair saw the Lady Pirates tie the game with three 3rd inning runs, but Maple Woods put the game-winning runs on the board with two tallies in the 6th inning, holding off the potent NCMC offense over the final six outs to clinch the win.
Other first-round scores on Friday were #3 seed Crowder over State Fair 9-1, and #2 seed Jefferson over St. Charles 7-0. In the winners bracket semifinals, top-seed 3 Rivers beat Maple Woods 4-3, while Crowder blasted Jefferson 11-5.
Saturday opened with a first-round loser’s bracket game that saw St. Charles bowing out of the tournament with a loss to State Fair. The Lady Pirates losers bracket game against Jefferson College followed, with, much like Friday morning, North Central trading blows with the Vikings, and taking a 4-3 lead into the bottom of the 7th inning. Unfortunately for NCMC, JeffCo tied the game with a 7th inning tally, and, with Emily Brewer hammering a game-winning two-run homer, ending the Lady Pirates season in the bottom of the 8th.
Jefferson College went on to beat State Fair in the next round of loser’s bracket play, 4-3, before being bounced out of the tournament by Crowder, 7-3, in the losers bracket final. Crowder had lost to 3 Rivers in the winners bracket final on Saturday afternoon, 9-0, before losing again in Sunday’s championship game to the Region 16 champion Lady Raiders from 3 Rivers Community College, 9-6.
