Saturday afternoon’s heavy thunderstorms that pushed through Trenton brought the annual Nan Carter high school softball tournament to a premature close, after the Trenton Lady Bulldogs joined Platte Valley, and Marceline in going 2-0 in early session pool play.
Trenton, playing out of Pool A, rebounded from a first-inning run by South Harrison in the first game of the day to rout the Lady Bulldogs 11-1, and then Brookfield 9-0. Â McKayla Blackburn pitched both games for THS, with Coach John Cowling hoping to save the arm of Ainsley Tolson for anticipate games in bracket play. Â In five innings against South Harrison, Blackburn gave up two hits and a run in the 1st, but rebounded to allow only base-runner over the final four innings to get the win.
The Trenton offense had plenty of juice in the Saturday morning opener, with Maci Moore hitting a two-run double, Lexi Whitaker a bases-clearing double, and Mykah Hurley a two-run single in the 1st inning. Â Trenton added four runs in the bottom of the 4th inning to set up the game for a run-rule ending.Â
Against Brookfield, Trenton was the visiting team on the scoreboard, and took a 1st inning lead on a two-run single by Sidney Lynch. Â Blackburn escaped a bases loaded, one out jam in the 3rd inning for Trenton, with the host Lady Bulldogs added four runs in the 5th inning, and a pair in the 6th. From the pitchers circle, Blackburn scattered five hits over 6 innings, striking out five for her second win of the tournament. Â Tolson was 3 for 4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI’s, with Hurley 2 for 4 with three runs scored, and Lexi Whitaker 2 for 4.
Elsewhere in Pool A, Platte Valley (Jefferson and South Nodaway co-op) went 2-0 with a 3-1 win over Brookfield and a 5-4 triumph over South Harrison. Â If rain had not caused a cancellation of play, South Nodaway would have played Trenton in what would have been a ‘semifinal’ from Griffin Field. Â A South Harrison vs. Brookfield game between 0-2 teams in Pool A was not completed (or was not reported to our office).
The Marceline Lady Tigers had an unbeaten day in Pool A, playing at Johnson Field of the Ebbe Sports Complex. Â In the first game of the day in Pool B, Plattsburg rolled to a 8-1 win over the Milan Lady Wildcats and came back at noon with a 4-0 loss to Marceline. Â Plattsburg clinched second place in Pool B, and a likely spot in the third place game, with a 10-1 win over North Harrison. Â Marceline’s first game of the day, at 10:30 AM, saw the Lady Tigers douse North Harrison 6-0. Â North Harrison went 1-2, including a 10-0 win over Milan. Â The final game in pool play between Marceline and Milan was rained out.
Four ‘bracket’ games for Saturday night were rained out. Â Those games were to be played at 6 PM (7th place at Johnson Field, 5th place at Griffin Field) and 7:30 PM (3rd place at Johnson Field and 1st place at Griffin Field).