The Princeton Lady Tigers scored four runs in the bottom of the 7th inning, with freshman catcher Jolena Gibson hammering the game’s decisive blow with a two-run game-winning double, as PHS rallied for a dramatic 8-7 win over the visiting Trenton Lady Bulldogs, in a Grand River Conference softball game broadcast on KTTN FM 92.3.
The game was a wild roller-coaster with two teams matching each other’s rosters very closely. Both lost potential senior aces to offseason knee injuries, with underclassmen heading the pitching load moving forward. While Princeton started the season well with a second-place finish at the Albany Tournament, and a non-conference win over Schuyler County, Trenton struggled to five losses in two days at the Cameron Tournament, before seeing a surge in play as conference play opened up.
Tuesday night’s contest from Gentry Field opened with the visiting Lady Bulldogs taking a 1-0 1st inning lead on a two-out single by Madi Moore, driving in Chandler Lynch. Princeton ripped the lead away in the bottom of the 1st, with a two-run double by Grace Kelly driving home Macey Lewis and Mackenzie Dunkin.
After Trenton ran themselves out of the 2nd inning, keeping the lead for the Tigers, the Bulldogs tied the game with a third inning run, with a safety squeeze bunt by Chandler Lynch sending home Gracyn Rongey, then going on to ‘bat around’ and scored three more runs, taking a 5-2 advantage. Morgan King and Jena Harris had RBI hits in the inning for Trenton, with the Bulldogs adding a run in the fourth inning, on a sacrifice fly by Lynch scoring Rongey.
Princeton’s comeback started in the bottom of the 4th inning, with a Becca Kile double placing runners on second and third. Addy Henke scored on a wild pitch, with courtesy runner Klaire Buckler scoring on a sacrifice fly by Kyla Coffman.
Trenton, on a controversial double down the left field line in the 7th (argued to be a foul-ball unsuccessfully by Princeton coach Steve Richman), pushed the lead to 7-4, setting the stage for the home 7th.
Faith Siemer reached on an error, before Macey Lewis popped out for the first out. Carsey Brown singled and Dunkin walked to load the bases. A walk to Grace Kelly forced in a run, before a single by Henke cut the lead to 7-6. After a grounder to third by Buckler resulted in a force play at home for the second out, Gibson roped a two-run double down the right field line, scoring Kelly and Henke with the winning runs.
Trenton and Princeton battled to a 6-6 tie in the JV contest, with Avery Clark, Ella Novak, Mikensy Golden, and Jena Hunter all going 1 for 2 at the plate for THS.
The victory pushes Princeton’s record to 4-3 overall and 1-2 in GRC play, dropping Trenton to 2-7 overall and 1-2 in the GRC. The Tigers travel to Milan on Thursday night, with the Trenton Bulldogs hosting Gallatin on the same evening, both with start times of 5:30.
Here is the high school softball scoreboard from Tuesday, September 7, 2021:
Polo 5, Milan 0
Cameron 9, Maryville 6
Chillicothe 22, Lafayette 3
Winston 16, East Harrison 1
Lawson 5, Braymer 4
Putnam County 12, Gallatin 0 (Putnam County won 2-0 over Schuyler County on Monday)
Mercer 8, Gilman City 3
King City 14, North Harrison 4
Bishop LeBlond 5, St. Pius X 2
Worth County 9, Stanberry 8
Kirksville 4, Mexico 2
Macon 13, Brookfield 1
Marceline 14, South Shelby 3 (5)
