Great Bend Post
One upset in the Class 5A regional bracket in Goddard Wednesday was not enough to get the Great Bend High School softball team to state. Playing as the No. 12 seed in the west regional, the Lady Panthers opened the bracket with a 10-5 win against No. 5 Hays. No. 4 Goddard-Eisenhower needed an extra frame to stay alive 1-0 in their first game. The Tigers put up five runs in the first inning of the championship game, never trailing Great bend in a 6-2 win.
Eisenhower used an error, home run, and triple in the opening frame to take command of the game. The Lady Tigers went on to lead 6-0 after three innings.
The Lady Panthers did claw back. After knocking in seven runs in game one Wednesday, DeShawnna Bryant walked to lead off the fourth. She came around to score after singles from Alyssa McCauley, Rylee Prilling, and Denver Ringo. A pickoff at second left the other runners stranded. Ava Kaiser doubled to lead off the fifth inning. She came around to score on a single from Katherine Mazouch for a 6-2 score. Halle Post made it as far as third base in the sixth inning.
Kaiser's double was the lone Lady Panther extra-base hit in the loss. Ringo singled twice and drove in a run, Mazouch had the RBI-single, and Paige Thexton singled and walked. The Lady Panthers struck out seven times and recorded seven hits.
McCauley threw all seven innings in game one for the win. She pitched the first two innings of the championship game, allowing three earned runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts. Braelyn Turner allowed three hits and struck out two in four shutout innings to close out the season.
Great Bend ends its season at 11-11.