Park Hill’s Kylee Page slides into first base in the Lady Trojans’ 15-3 upset win over St. Joseph’s Central on Oct. 12.
PARKVILLE – In the first year under Jeremy Benninghoff, Park Hill (15-17) won its first postseason softball game since 2020 before being bumped out in the Class 5 District 8 Semifinals.
Having been outscored 21-3 in districts in the last two years, Park Hill came out with a dominant 15-3 win over St. Joseph’s Central at the Creekside Baseball Complex on Oct. 12. The fifth-seeded Lady Trojans were unable to keep the postseason run going as they ran into the No. 1 seeded Liberty (21-13) and fell 3-2 on Oct. 13.
Park Hill had won five of its last six in the regular season and kept that hot streak going with an upset win over Central in the first round of districts. The game was tight early, being tied 2-2 at the conclusion of the first inning, but sophomore pitcher Brooklyn Bertoncino only allowed two hits the rest of the way as she also struck out 10 total batters.
Park Hill extended the lead to 5-2 in the second inning behind a pair of RBI singles by Brynlee Johnson and Bertoncino, along with Taylor Landeck reaching on an error and Mandia Brock scoring on the same play. From the fourth inning on, the Lady Trojans scored 10 runs and had 12 hits.
Park Hill erupted for 17 hits and took advantage of six Central errors. Kylee Page and Lauren Emmendorfer both had three hits.
Park Hill advanced to the district semifinals to take on Liberty, who took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. In the top of the fifth inning, Bertoncino and Lauren Oakley reached on an error and Page singled to get some runners in scoring position.
Park Hill only added one run in the inning on a walk, tying the game and Liberty immediately responded with a RBI single, retaking a 3-2 lead. In the final two innings, the Lady Trojans failed to get a single runner on base and were eliminated.
Park Hill had five hits on the day – one more than Liberty – by five different players. The Lady Trojans made strides this year and finished with their most wins since 2020, which was the last time they won a district title.