North Platte senior Courtney Dehn (#8) catches a ball at first base in the Lady Panthers’ 15-0 win over Lathrop on Sept. 7.
DEARBORN – Over the last three years, North Platte (11-1) has become one of the toughest softball teams to beat in Northwest Missouri and that has been evident with its dominant start to the fall.
North Platte hasn’t allowed more than five runs in any of its 11 wins, posting three shutouts and outscoring those teams by 106 runs (127 to 21). The Lady Panthers played seven games before KCI Conference play began – winning all seven and scoring in double digits in five of those games – before taking down Lathrop (3-5) 15-0 on Sept. 7.
Kate Wolf has been a problem for opposing offenses as the sophomore pitcher threw a perfect game against Lathrop. Wolf didn’t allow a walk and struck out nine batters in a game that only lasted four innings due to a mercy rule.
North Platte left few runners on base, scoring 15 runs on 13 hits on the day. Three separate players had two hits and Camryn Kersten had three hits and one RBI.
North Platte’s sole loss thus far was to St. Joseph’s Lafayette (5-6) – a Class 3 opponent – in the first round of the Benton Tournament on Sept. 9. The Lady Panthers had a rough fifth inning, giving up eight runs and losing 10-8.
Lafayette put two runs on the board in the top of the first inning and North Platte matched that in the bottom of the inning. McKenna Cunningham had a solo home run in the second inning, while Lindsay Ramsey and Courtney Dehn had a pair of RBIs in the third inning to put the Lady Panthers ahead 6-2.
Dehn came in to relieve Wolf in the fourth inning on the mound and North Platte extended its lead 8-2 in the bottom of that inning. Lafayette took advantage of two walks and a North Platte error, along with six singles, in the fifth inning to come back and go up 10-8.
Kersten opened the bottom of the fifth inning with a double, but the next three batters got out and the Lady Panthers lost. Ramsey had three of the teams eight hits in the game.
North Platte bounced back to close out the tournament with a 6-4 win over St. Joseph’s Central (4-3) and beat Maryville (2-6) 13-3. Following the tournament, the Lady Panthers went on to beat Stanberry (1-4) 7-1 on Sept. 11.
North Platte will host Sherwood (4-2) – the 2021 and 2022 Class 2 Runners-Up – on Sept. 12. The Lady Panthers beat the Lady Marksmen 3-2 last season.