The Trenton Lady Bulldogs did enough through three tests on Saturday, with the combination of dominant pitching and timely hitting, to advance to a championship game with Clark County. In Saturday’s night final, the Lady Bulldogs put everything together for perhaps their strongest performance of the season, completing a four-game sweep and earning a championship trophy at Putnam County High School in Unionville.
Trenton started its day with pool play games against Schuyler County and Kirksville, and won both in decisively different fashions. In the opener against the Lady Rams, sophomore Ainsley Tolson had easily her best pitching performance as a Lady Bulldog, striking out 16 Lady Rams in a two-hit shutout. Trenton won 3-0, opening the scoring in the second inning on a Jayden Roeder RBI single (scoring Taylor Richman), and adding single tallies in the 4th and 6th innings. The 16 strikeouts by Tolson set a new career high, as Ainsley, in the Saturday morning performance, went the first 4 1/3 innings perfectly, retiring the first 13 batters in order.
The second game was nothing like the first, as Trenton and Kirksville locked horns in a back-and-forth duel that saw the Lady Bulldogs chased throughout, and barely holding on for 9-8 triumph. In the top of the 1st inning, THS scored twice. Jaylen Neff raced home from third on passed ball, and Whitley Richman singled home Ainsley Tolson for the early advantage. Kirksville scored twice in the home half of the first to knot the game at 2.
Katerina Black’s first career home run gave Trenton the lead back in the 2nd, with McKayla Blackburn holding down the Kirksville offense in the middle innings, as Trenton extended the lead to 7-2, as Salem Croy cracked a two-run homer to highlight the Bulldogs surge. KHS got to Blackburn with three runs in the 5th inning, cutting Trenton’s lead to 7-5.
Trenton scored what turned out to be crucial runs in the top of the 6th inning, and Neff and Mykah Hurley picked up RBI’s to give the Lady Bulldogs breathing room. The bottom of the inning turned hairy for Trenton, as the Lady Bulldogs uncharacteristically committed four errors, leading to three Kirksville runs, cutting the lead to 9-8. Coach John Cowling went to Tolson to cut down the Kirksville rally with no outs in the sixth, and the sophomore was able to escape with the lead for her team. The 7th inning passed quietly, with Trenton winning 9-8. Blackburn picked up the win for Trenton, striking out five Lady Tigers. Tolson, Croy, and Black each had 2 hits to pace Trenton’s 10 hit attack.
The 2-0 start moved Trenton to “Gold Pool” play, and a semifinal meeting with a Marceline squad lighting up scoreboards with its potent offense so far this season. The Lady Bulldogs got the jump on the Tigers with two first inning runs, as Neff and Lexi Whitaker scored on a play that saw Whitley Richman pick up an RBI. Tolson, while not as dominant as earlier in the day, slowed down Marceline by scattering seven hits with 10 strikeouts. A Whitley Richman RBI double in the 6th, and a Black RBI single in the 7th offered Trenton insurance in a 4-1 win.
Trenton matched up with Clark County for the Putnam County Tournament title, as both the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Indians matched records at 3-0 in the tournament. THS dominated the final, winning 11-1 in six innings. The Lady Bulldogs again showed first-inning energy, scoring twice to snare the lead. A single by Croy scored Neff, and Tenna Roberts scored on a Clark County error. A two-run triple by Whitley Richman in the 4th inning scored Neff and Whitaker (running for Croy). Trenton blew open the final with six runs in the 5th inning, as Lexi Whitaker tripled and was driven home on a Black single to get the rally started. Tolson struck out 10 in the title tilt, allowing only four hits. The sophomore finished the day with 21 innings pitched, a 3-0 record, one save, 13 hits allowed, one walk permitted, and 37 strikeouts.
While showing concern for his team’s “worst fielding day of the season”, Trenton Coach John Cowling praised his team for passing tests throughout the day, with 13 different players getting hits, showing Trenton’s depth”.
Trenton, now 9-0 on the season, returns to Grand River Conference play this week, hosting Polo tonight (Tuesday night) at 5:30 and Milan on Thursday night at 5:30 (weather permitting). The Polo game will be broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7, with pregame at 5:20. The Milan at Trenton contest will be broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3.
