The Park Hill softball team (11-19) ran into an offensive dominant Staley squad (17-13) in the opening round of the Class 5 District 8 Tournament as the Lady Trojans’ season came to an end with a 12-0 loss on Oct. 11.
Entering the contest as the underdog – being the No. 6 seed matched up with the No. 3 seed – the Lady Trojans held their own in a scoreless first inning, before falling behind 4-0 in the second inning. Park Hill’s first three batters struck out in the first inning before leaving two batters on in the second inning.
Lauren Oakley and Brynlee Johnson both singled in the inning – and advanced on a pair of steals when there was a wild pitch with Autumn Bridges at bat – but no other Lady Trojan was able to make contact with the ball, striking out, and Park Hill took the field for defense. Staley took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning and forced three straight outs in the top of the third inning.
Park Hill’s Brooklyn Bertoncino started on the mound in the 12-0 postseason loss to Staley on Oct. 11.
The Lady Falcons had a home run over center field and added another run when Park Hill pulled Brooklyn Bertoncino from the mound and Bridges came in to relieve her for the rest of the way. Staley added two more runs, including an RBI triple, and Park Hill headed into the fourth inning with a 7-0 deficit.
After the first two batters struck out, Johnson doubled to left field to give Park Hill life, but the next batter struck out as the Lady Trojans left another runner on without a score. Staley had an impressive outing in the bottom of the fourth inning and put the game away with five more runs.
The Lady Falcons had three consecutive home runs over center field on three straight pitches, which was started with a 2-run home run. Staley added one more run to the scoreboard to close out the inning with a 12-0 advantage.
Taylor Landeck and Bridges both got on base in the fifth inning, but Park Hill was unable to find a way to cross home plate and the game was called midway through that inning due to a mercy rule. The Lady Trojans added three wins to their win total from last fall and will look to build off that next year when Park Hill will have four seniors to replace from this season.