North Platte senior Kenedie Summers played her last high school softball game in the Class 2 District 7 Championship loss to Mid-Buchanan on Oct. 16.
FAUCETT – Spending the last year thinking about losing the district championship, the North Platte softball team (22-9) had a chance to bring home the first one since 2015 in a rematch with Mid-Buchanan on Oct. 16.
The Class 2 District 7 Championship was played at Mid-Buchanan High School, making it a little tougher environment for North Platte. The Lady Panthers trailed 4-0, fought back to tie the game but ultimately fell short, 6-4.
Mid-Buchanan only allowed one hit in the first two innings, while scoring four runs in that timeframe. In the top of the third inning, Sophie Greer and Kenedie Summers singled to get into scoring position and Brooke Kretzer batted in Greer with a ground ball single to center field.
The fourth inning went scoreless and the fifth inning was the most pivotal of the game. North Platte opened it up with three consecutive singles and scored on the third one, a hit by Summers.
Later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Courtney Dehn had an RBI single, and another run was walked in, tying the game. Kate Wolf grounded out in the next at-bat and Mid-Buchanan headed to the dugout.
Dru Pearson hit a 2-run home run in the bottom of the inning, killing the Lady Panthers’ momentum and putting the Lady Dragons up 6-4. North Platte’s final six batters failed to reach a base – four of which made contact with the ball – and Mid-Buchanan survived.
Wolf spent the entire game on the mound and struck out five batters. Greer and Summers both had two hits each as the team ended with eight total.
Mid-Buchanan won last year’s district championship over North Platte by a score of 7-6 and won all three matchups this season. Dehn, Summers and Isabelle Williams suited up one last time for the Lady Panthers as the senior trio has played their last high school softball game.
Ahead of the district championship, North Platte eliminated East Buchanan (0-18) in the first round and Plattsburg (21-7) in the semifinals, with a combined score of 25-0. Dehn threw a no-hitter and struck out five batters against the Lady Bulldogs and Wolf only gave up one run while striking out eight Lady Tigers in the next game.
North Platte had a slow start against East Buchanan, not scoring until the bottom of the third inning when Gracie Williams scored on a passed ball. The Lady Panthers erupted for 14 runs and 12 hits in the fourth inning and only had two outs as the game was automatically mercy ruled once the score reached 15-0.
North Platte barely snuck past Plattsburg 1-0 in the only regular season matchup, but it was a different story in districts, with a final score of 10-0. The Lady Panthers had six players have multiple hits to put together 14 total and scored at least two runs in four of the six innings.