The 33rd District softball tournament got underway on Sunday at Cooper with the host Jaguars taking on Boone County while Conner and Ryle faced off in the second semifinal.
While Cooper cruised to Monday’s championship game, the Cougars and Raiders needed extra innings to decide Monday’s other championship contender.
Here’s how it went down:
CONNER 2, RYLE 1 (8 INNINGS)
Mollie Sharp was not only dominant in the circle, but her two-out, two-strike homerun in the bottom of the seventh helped keep the Cougars season alive.
Facing an 0-2 count and fouling off two pitches, Sharp gave the fifth pitch of the at-bat a ride to left center field, just clearing the fence to tie the game up at 1-1.
“I was swinging at whatever was coming at me and hoped I hit it,” Sharp said. “That’s what I was thinking. She threw it outside and I just took it that way. Went in searching for that exact pitch and there you go.”
Sharp and Ryle’s Madison Goddard were in control in the circle for the entire game.
Sharp, amped up from the game-tying homerun, came out in the top of the eighth and struck out the side to give the Cougars the sudden chance at victory in the bottom half of the inning.
“When I pitch I just lock in and keep my composure. I don’t let all the strikeouts get to my because I have a whole game to pitch,” Sharp said. “I was hyped up, just don’t try to show it in the circle.”
Averie Lightner singled to right field to open up the bottom half of the eighth, advanced to second on a wild pitch and then Jalyn Cain drove her in on an RBI single to right center field to give the Cougars the improbable victory.
“I was struggling all game,” Cain said. “Definitely had some nerves and was taking all these deep breaths and all these girls in here were coming up to me and made me think, ‘I have a whole team behind me.’ I’m playing for the whole team and had to do this for them.”
They go from down to their last strike to extending their season at least another week with an automatic berth into the 9th Region championship.
They’ll get Cooper in Monday’s 33rd District championship game at 5:30 p.m.
Sharp’s performance is one that will be remembered for a long time in Hebron. Not only did she provide the fireworks at the plate, she struck out 19 batters and allowed just one hit, a single in the fifth inning. She battled through four walks and four Conner errors to keep them within striking distance.
All four of the Conner errors came in the fourth inning when Ryle got their lone run with three bunts. First it was Kiley Patterson reaching on an error from a bad throw to first on a bunt. Then it was Korlin Rechtin reaching on an error via a bunt, Patterson advancing to third on another bad throw. Finally it was Laci DeLauder laying one down, reaching on another error and Patterson scoring.
It looked like that would be all that was needed in this pitchers duel, Goddard striking out 11 batters for the Raiders. Two of her biggest strikeouts came in the fifth and sixth innings when Conner had runners in scoring position, in the fifth with runners on second and third with one out and getting a strikeout followed by a groundout and then in the sixth, getting a strikeout with runners on second and third to end the threat.
Goddard added two more strikeouts in the seventh, Ryle unable to close the game out a strike away. It puts an end to their season at 13-14, a season that entered with a lot of promise as they were tabbed preseason No. 2 in the 9th Region, only behind back-to-back champion Highlands. Not only will they not get a chance to live up to that billing, but missed out on an opportunity to three-peat in the rugged 33rd District. It will be a tough pill to swallow with how the defeat played out and while they’ll return a ton of talent, Goddard and two other seniors in Zoe Coop and Mikayla Kouns will be graduating.
Conner’s semifinal win is their first in the district tournament since 2019 as they’ll look for their first district title since ’19.
“Our goal at the start of the year since I’ve been here is to make region. I’ve been here five years, if anyone knows this district, this is always a tough game to get out of,” Cougars coach Shawn Sproles said. “I’m happy the program has grown enough where we’re comfortable in these moments. The seniors have been great in leading everything and when you get around certain teams there’s just energy and belief and when you get around those teams they’re really fun to coach.”
Expect another tight battle on Monday, the Cougars losing 4-3 and 2-1 in eight innings to Cooper in the regular season. All three contests with Ryle this season needed to be decided in extra innings, the Cougars getting two out of those three meetings.
COUGARS 2, RAIDERS 1 (8 INNINGS)
RYLE — 000-100-00 — 1-1-0
CONNER — 000-000-11 — 2-7-4
2B — Sharp
HR — Sharp
WP — Sharp. LP — Goddard.
Records: Ryle 13-14, Conner 17-10
COOPER 10, BOONE COUNTY 1
Cooper coach Rusty Scott said there were 10 MVP’s after Sunday’s semifinal victory over Boone County.
The Jaguars got contributions up and down the lineup and their solid defense didn’t commit an error as Lily Spraker did her job and pitched to contact while the defense made the plays presented to them.
“We played our game,” Scott said. “That’s been our mantra all year long. Pitch to contact, let our defense take care of it and be aggressive on the bases. Pretty aggressive defensively and felt like we played a complete game. As far as heroes go, I felt like we had about 10 heroes out there today in every facet of the game.”
Meanwhile, it was an error in the first inning by Boone County that opened things up for the Jaguars in this one. With two outs, a grounder was hit back to pitcher Dani Wright, an errant throw scoring two Cooper runners. Cooper added two more runs in the first to make it 4-0.
“Soon as that throw happened, it’s one you don’t see from Dani, she’s pretty automatic in those situations,” Rebels coach Christopher Kinman said. “That one play right there got them four runs early and took a little bit of wind out of our sails.”
Cooper put things on cruise control from there, adding two runs in the second, one in the fourth and fifth and two more in the sixth.
Ava Scott had four hits in the contest, going 4-for-4 in the leadoff spot and causing havoc on the basepaths with three stolen bases and four runs scored.
“It’s important to set the tone,” Scott said. “Our saying is to expect to do it. So I expect to steal and get a base hit.”
Kailey Milburn provided some of the pop at the plate with a two-run homerun to center in the second and collecting three RBI while Ainsley Scroggie had two extra-base hits with a triple, double and two RBI.
“I hit the first ball that was pitched to me that at-bat,” Milburn said. “I struck out the at-bat before so I was thinking don’t strike out and then it went over the fence. I knew when I hit it, it was solid contact.”
Spraker pitched five innings, allowing a hit, earned run and walked three while Desiree Mack came on and pitched a final two scoreless innings.
Cooper will head to their fourth straight district championship, hoping to seal the deal on Monday after losing the previous three. As the No. 1 seed and on their homefield, there’s no better time to do it.
“Ball has to bounce our way a couple times,” Rusty Scott said. “Got to make the plays, do what we do, pitch to contact, ground balls, missed barrels, if that happens, we have a chance.”
Boone County’s season comes to a close at 6-19, the first under Christopher Kinman.
“Numbers started off a little slow, got a few seniors that hadn’t played in a couple years that came back. Recruited in the middle schools and ended up with about 24 girls in the program for varsity and JV and that will really set the tone for years to come,” Kinman said. “Looking at this as a big long term commitment and this year was the first step in that.”
They’ll graduate six seniors.
JAGUARS 10, REBELS 1
BOONE COUNTY — 001-000-0 — 1-1-3
COOPER — 420-112-x — 10-10-0
2B — Scroggie, Furnish
3B — Scroggie
HR — Milburn
WP — Spraker. LP — Wright.
Records: Boone County 6-19, Cooper 18-10