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. 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. 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. Trenton added four runs in the bottom of the 4th inning to set up the game for a run-rule ending.
Against Brookfield, Trenton was the visiting team on the scoreboard, and took a 1st inning lead on a two-run single by Sidney Lynch. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Plattsburg clinched second place in Pool B, and a likely spot in the third place game, with a 10-1 win over North Harrison. Marceline’s first game of the day, at 10:30 AM, saw the Lady Tigers douse North Harrison 6-0. North Harrison went 1-2, including a 10-0 win over Milan. The final game in pool play between Marceline and Milan was rained out.
Four ‘bracket’ games for Saturday night were rained out. 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).
