Great Bend Post
TMP may have had the superior record going into the regular-season finale against Great Bend Tuesday in Hays. But the Lady Monarchs have not played the likes of Garden City and McPherson this year. The Lady Panthers closed out the regular-season at .500 with a 9-6 win in game one and a 14-4 win in game two.
TMP scored the first two runs in the first inning of Tuesday's doubleheader. Great Bend got RBI singles from Ava Kaiser and Paige Thexton in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead, then saw DeShawnna Bryant homer in the sixth as part of a six-run frame to get the win. The Monarchs had scored three in the fifth to regain a 5-3 lead prior to the big inning.
Bryant, Thexton, Kaiser, Denver Ringo, Kamryn Koelsch, and Halle Post each had two hits in the first game. Bryant and Kaiser each drove in two runs, and Post scored twice.
Freshman Alyssa McCauley threw a complete game for the win. The freshman allowed five earned runs on six hits with a strikeout and five walks.
Game two was not the nail biter as the Lady Panthers opened up a 6-0 lead after three at bats and led 8-2 after four innings. Six more runs in the final two innings secured the double-digit win.
After just one extra-base hit in game one, Great Bend had four doubles and a home run from Thexton in the late game. Thexton also singled and walked, driving in two and scoring once. McCauley doubled twice, and Bryant and Katherine Mazouch each singled and doubled. Mazouch drove in two and scored twice. Rylee Prilling singled twice and scored twice.
Thexton threw the first six innings for the win, allowing three earned runs on eight hits. The junior struck out eight and walked two. Freshman Braelyn Turner pitched the final inning, allowing an unearned run and striking out one with one hit allowed.
Great Bend, at 10-10, likely moves to the No. 12 spot in the Class 5A west regional. TMP, at 13-7, likely drops to the No. 3 spot in the Class 2-1A Ellis regional.