Bruins top Stars in sectional title game
May 22—LEBANON — The Western Boone softball team knew it was going to be a tough task to top Tri-West on Wednesday night for the Sectional 25 title.
And while they battled through a low-scoring game for seven innings, the Bruins did just a little more offensively and came away with a 4-1 win, ending the Stars' successful season in the sectional title game.
"We knew we had to play perfect to beat a team like that," Western Boone head coach Mike Vanderpool said. "We really had one bad inning. We should have been right there down 2-1, but we continued to fight, we didn't give up and we had a good approach."
The Stars trailed 2-1 heading to the top of the fifth inning.
After a one-out walk, the Stars got a grounder to second, but tried to get the lead runner at second and the throw was late.
The next batter doubled to make it 3-1, before another fielders' choice resulted in another run scoring without an out recorded. WeBo got out of the inning down 4-1, but the damage had been done.
"We just had one tough inning with a couple of mistakes and that cost us," Vanderpool said. "Down 2-1, we still had a chance to get something going, but down 4-1 it's going to be tough to get that many against their pitcher. I am proud of our girls for the way we continued to battle, we just came up a little short."
Western Boone took a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Mickey Burns reached on an error, and two batters later Kenzlei Mathews doubled to drive in the game's first run.
WeBo couldn't add on however and led 1-0 after two.
The Bruins got the run right back in the top of the third inning.
With one on and two outs, Tri-West hit a home run to take a 2-1 lead and put the Stars into a whole.
"That was a little bit of a momentum killer, but down 2-1, we still had a chance," Vanderpool said. "Our girls did a great job of continuing to put the ball in play and trying to make things happen. I am still proud of our group, we had a great season."
Gabby Lewis went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Stars.
The Stars finish the season 19-7, winning a share of the conference title for the first time since 2007.
They graduate Lewis and Emma Shirley, but bring back the rest of the team.
"I am sad to see Emma and Gabby go, they have been a huge part of the team for the last four years," Vanderpool said.
"It is going to be tough to replace them. I hope that for our younger girls, they got good experience this year and they did a nice job this year. I hope they can step up and be good leaders next year."
WeBo tops Lebanon in semis
Western Boone topped Lebanon 6-1 in the semifinals on Tuesday.
The Stars got all the runs they would need in the opening inning.
WeBo led off the game with three-straight singles from Emma Shirley, Ally Lewis and Gabby Lewis to make it 2-0. The Tigers looked like they would limit the damage, getting the next two hitters out, but Mathews kept the inning alive with an RBI-single and Morganne Grant then reached on an error.
Dottie Wilson then came through with a 2-run single to make it 5-0.
Western Boone only got one run after that — from an RBI-double off the bat of Mathews in the fifth — but got off to the start they were looking for.
"We had some hard hits after that, but Lebanon just stepped up their defense too," Vanderpool said. "Thank goodness we got those runs early."
Lebanon tried to rally in the third to make things interesting.
An error, single and walk loaded the bases with one out. A ground out got the second out, but Krryn Miller reach on an infield single to make it 5-1.
With the tying run at the plate, Gabby Lewis got a big strike out to get out of the jam, and kept WeBo's lead at four.
Lebanon finished the season 19-12.
Full recap of the sectional semifinal is available at reporter.net.
Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.
