In the top half of the first inning in Saturday’s Class 2 state quarterfinal in Holden, things looked troublesome for the Grand River Conference champion Trenton Lady Bulldogs, as a pair of throwing errors gifted the Lady Eagles a run, giving the home faithful rooting for the MRVC Eastern Division champions hope for an upset over THS.
The confidence of Holden was short-lived however, as Trenton, gifted five fielding errors by the rattled Eagles in the bottom of the inning, batted 12 and scored 7, never looking back in a 12-5 victory, sending the Lady Bulldogs to their first Final Four appearance since finishing second in the state to Blair Oaks in 2009.
The bottom of the first started quietly, with an Ainsley Tolson ground out to second base off of Holden starter Stephanie Barry, but Mykah Hurley reached on a bunt, with the throw to first base dropped by the covering second baseman. Maci Moore followed with a double to right field, moving Hurley to third. Salem Croy reached on a throwing error by the third baseman, with Croy reaching second on the play, while Hurley and Moore both scored to give the Lady Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
With courtesy runner Gracyn Rongey on second base, Taylor Richman reached on a fielding error by Barry, leaving runners on the corners with one out. A grounder to first base by Sidney Lynch drove in Rongey and moved Richman to second, bringing junior center fielder Lexi Whitaker to the plate. Tom Johnson had the play-by-play call on Hot Country Z 101.7:
Up 5-1 after the Whitaker blast, Trenton kept the pressure on Holden, with a walk to McKayla Blackburn followed by a three-base error by Holden, as a grounder to short by Chandler Lynch was thrown wide of second base for a potential force, rolling into deep right field. Blackburn scored on the play, as Lynch stopped by third. Ainsley Tolson walked and Mykah Hurley drove in Lynch with the inning’s 7th run.
After a scoreless second inning, Tolson retired Holden with no runs scoring in the top of the 3rd, with Whitaker leading off for the Lady ‘Dawgs in the bottom of the 3rd inning:
Trenton added another run in the third inning on a right-center field alley double by Tolson, scoring Chandler Lynch, who had reached on a single and stole second.
Down 9-1 going into the top of the fifth inning, Holden made the game much more interesting than Trenton would have liked, as a fielders choice grounder in the fifth scored right-fielder Hannah Findley, cutting the lead to 9-2. In the inning, shortstop Bailee Bryant hit a line drive off of Tolson’s right hand, injuring the Lady Bulldog ace, who gutted out the rest of the inning, stranding runners on second and third.
With Tolson weakened by the hand injury, Holden began the sixth with a Peyton Daniel single and a Lexy Moore single. A double down the third base line by Lilly Spring scored both runners, as Tolson was removed for McKayla Blackburn. Blackburn got the inning’s first out on a called strike three to Findley, before Corrigan reached on an infield single. A pop-up to Maci Moore retired Maggie Klover, before an intentional walk to Bryant loaded the bases. With the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, Blackburn struck out clean-up hitter Josie Day swinging, keeping the Lady Bulldogs lead at five runs (9-4):
Trenton’s potent offense, perhaps feeling the late-game pressure put on by Holden, sprung to life in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Hurley singled and scored on a one-out double by Croy down the left field line. After a line-out by Richman, Sidney Lynch stepped to the plate:
Tolson returned to the circle in the top of the 7th, looking to close out a 12-4 win. Down to their final out, Holden got a solo home run to right field off the bat of Lexy Moore, leaving Lilly Spring as the Lady Eagles final hope for season survival:
In a celebratory postgame interview, Whitaker said her approach on her home run swings in the early innings came down to a philosophy of “see ball, hit ball”:
Trenton, now 26-2 on the season, will play the Lady Redbirds of East Carter High School in Friday afternoon’s Class 2 state semifinals at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. East Carter is 25-5 after an eight-inning win over Montgomery County on Saturday in Poplar Bluff. East Carter High School in located in Ellsinore, Missouri, just northwest of Poplar Bluff in southeast Missouri. That semifinal will be broadcast locally on KTTN FM 92.3, KTTN from Tune-In Radio, and KTTNSports.com, with Tom Johnson on the play-by-play call from Springfield.
The state semifinals in Classes 1 through 4 will all be played on Friday in Springfield, beginning with both Class 3 games at 10 AM, and both Class 4 games at 11 AM. Both Class 1 semifinals will be played at 1 o’clock, and both Class 2 semifinals at 2 o’clock.
In addition to Trenton vs. East Carter, the other Class 2 state semifinal will involve the powerhouse programs from Bowling Green and Blair Oaks. Bowling Green defeated Tolton Catholic on Saturday 8-2, while Blair Oaks hammered Warsaw 10-0.
The Class 1 quarterfinal scores were Maysville blanking Stanberry 9-0, Knox County shutting out Meadville 17-0, Salisbury beating Pilot Grove 10-1, and Norwood blanking Weaubleau 4-0.
The Class 1 state semifinals on Friday afternoon at 1 o’clock are Maysville vs. Norwood and Salisbury vs. Knox County. The Lady Wolverines of Maysville are 14-6, Norwood 19-7, Salisbury 22-4, and Knox County 18-4-1.
The Class 3 semifinals on Friday morning at 10 are Oak Grove vs. Hillsboro and Mexico taking on Sullivan. Oak Grove won at Savannah in Saturday’s quarterfinals 9-8.
The Class 4 semifinals on Friday morning at 11 are Blue Springs South vs. Marquette and Raymore-Peculiar against Troy Buchanan.
Third place games in each class will be played on Friday, with all championship game slated for Saturday in Springfield.
Photo credit – Jason Ketz / U-Click TV / Holden, MO
