Trenton wins twice, fights to 2-2 draw, in softball jamboree

Four quality softball teams in Brookfield, Schuyler County, Putnam County, and the host Trenton Lady Bulldogs met in a four-team jamboree on Monday night at the Ebbe Sports Complex in Trenton.

Trenton Coach John Cowling used the entire Lady Bulldog roster, as THS gained valuable experience, and earned two wins and a draw against their competition.

In game #1, Trenton freshman McKayla Blackburn threw three shutout innings, and the Lady Bulldog offense waited until the bottom of the 3rd inning to snare the 1-0 win, and Salem Croy’s double drove in Ainsley Tolson with the game-winning run.  Brookfield beat Schuyler County in an early contest at Johnson Field, 4-3.

In Trenton’s second game, the THS defense faltered, with errors directly involved as junior pitcher Ashten Whitaker gave up a run in the Brookfield 2nd and a run in the 3rd, in a 2-2 tie between the Bulldog squads.  Brookfield opened the scoring on a Emily Kunkel single scoring Jayce Vestal in the top of the 2nd.  Trenton tied it in the home 2nd, as a wild pitch scored courtesy runner Tenna Roberts, on the bases after an Ashten Whitaker single.

Brookfield took a 2-1 advantage in the 3rd, as sophomore Sydney Wilbeck bunted for a single and went to 2nd via error.  She stole third base and took home plate as the throw sailed down the left field line, over the drawn in Trenton infield.  In the Trenton 3rd, a Whitley Richman single with two outs scored the tying run.  Richman, after the ball rolled through the legs of the Brookfield left fielder, took 2nd place but was thrown out at 3rd to end the scrimmage.

The third game of the night was a three-inning pitchers duel between sophomores Ainsley Tolson of Trenton and Dystine Priebe of Schuyler County. Tolson shutout the Lady Rams, while Trenton won the contest in the bottom of the 3rd, on a line-drive single by sophomore Salem Croy with the bases loaded.

Here is Trenton coach John Cowling:

All three pitchers, including the anticipated ace Tolson, got time on the slab for Trenton:

The three game performance left a clear image on what Trenton will work on over the next week:

Trenton opens its first Grand River Conference season at Maysville on Tuesday, August 23rd:

The contest, at 5:30 PM, will be broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7 with audio webstream on www.kgozfm.com and KGOZ on Tune-In Radio.  It will the first-ever conference game for the Trenton softball program.

Picture – Trenton freshman McKayla Blackburn throws a pitch against Putnam County in a 1-0 Trenton win on Monday night