The North Harrison Shamrocks and Princeton Tigers, with right-handers Carly Rinehart and Lauren Krohn matching zero’s in the first few innings of Monday night’s Class 1, District 15 championship game, looked destined for a low-scoring pitchers duel to decide which team would advance into Missouri’s Class 1 state playoffs.
Princeton had a pair of chances to break a scoreless tie in the first four innings, but Rinehart escaped a two-on, one out jam in the top of the first inning, and, with the help of an inning-ending double play in the fourth, a bases loaded, one out jam.
After being shutout by Krohn for the first three innings, the Shamrock offense rose to life in the bottom of the fourth inning, with shortstop Kami Gibson hitting a laser to deep left center field. The ball was caught in spectacular fashion by Lacie Lewis, but her momentum hurdled her over the fence, with the official ruling of a home run to follow. A solo blast by third baseman Ashlynn Gilpatrick pushed the lead to 2-0, with an RBI single by Deva Wallace scoring Sally Briggs with the third run of the inning.
Princeton, in the top of the fifth, rallied with a leadoff single by Kennedy Norton. With one out, Krohn reached on a fielding error, bringing third baseman Lindsey Batson to the plate. Tom Johnson had the call on KTTN FM 92.3:
With Batson on first and courtesy runner Kyla Coffman on second, Jasmine Allen had the first of what would be two giant hits for the Lady Tigers championship efforts:
With the game tied at 3, the contest continued to move into a higher-scoring affair, with the Lady ‘Rocks adding two in the fifth inning. Gibson, for the second time in as many innings, launched a solo blast to give North Harrison a 4-3 lead. Gilpatrick doubled, moved to third on a single by Rainey Fordyce, and scored on a wild pitch, giving the hosts a 5-3 lead. After Princeton was retired in order in the sixth, North Harrison secured an insurance run in the bottom half, with Rinehart scoring on a Gilpatrick single.
Down three runs with the potential of three outs to go in their season, Princeton’s bats got hot in the 7th inning. Lewis led off the frame with a double, with a Krohn single cutting the lead to 6-4. Lindsey Batson, representing the tying run, hit a high pop-up behind third base that was dropped for an error, leaving two on and no outs, with Jasmine Allen once again ready to contribute a big hit:
Needing a scoreless frame to head into the Class 1 playoffs, Princeton began the bottom of the 7th with two base on balls in three batters, although a force out off the bat of Mason Cracraft had runners on first and second and one out. A bloom single to right field by Camden Castleberry drove in Cracraft, bringing All-HDC Conference catcher Emma Craig, 0 for 4 to that point of the game, to the plate:
The win sends North Harrison into a Class 1 sectional games at Stanberry on Wednesday night, while the Lady Tigers, coming within two outs of an elusive district championship, end the 2018 season with a mark of 9-8.
