Girard wins tourney

Girard won the Fort Scott Softball Tournament for the fifth consecutive season Tuesday, outscoring its competition 26-4 in only 10 1/2 innings of play.

The Trojans defeated Class 6A Blue Valley Northwest, 15-4, in six innings in one semifinal while host Fort Scott got by Pittsburg, 11-10, in the other. Girard then went on to defeat the Tigers, 11-0, in 4 1/2 innings in the championship games.

Due to deteriorating conditions at the south field at Fisher Park, Pittsburg and Blue Valley Northwest did not play the third-place game. The teams may come back to play it at a later date.

The Tigers won their semifinal -- which was also their season opener -- when Shelby Maycumber drove in Jade Weeter in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Perhaps owning to the field conditions on a cold, misty day, both teams' defense and pitching struggled. There were a combined 7 errors committed and 13 walks issued.

"We struggled with pitching the first three or four innings getting our fingers loosened up and getting used to the cold weather," Fort Scott head coach Alvin Metcalf said. "There were a lot of errors and I think we still have a long way to go in that area. Even though we have all these experienced players back, we're still a young team."

The Purple Dragons scored three runs in the top of the first inning, only one of which was earned. Fort Scott got two back in the bottom of the inning.

Weeter led off with a single to left and moved to second on a wild pitch. Hannah Tourtillott drew a walk and the runners advanced on a passed ball. Another passed ball allowed Weeter to score and Tourtillott to get to third. Maycumber brought Tourtillott in with a sacrifice fly.

The Tigers took the lead in the second. Jenna Harper led off with a base hit and moved to second on a passed ball. Weeter singled, then stole second. Tourtillott drew a walk to load the bases and Maycumber delivered a two-out single to right that made it 4-2.

Pittsburg scored two in the top of the third but Fort Scott equaled that in the bottom of the inning. Morgan Tourtillott led off Fort Scott's half with a double, then scored on Delane Gray's single. Harper walked with one out and Gray moved to third on a wild pitch. Gray scored on Weeter's groundout to third to put the Tigers ahead, 6-5.

The Dragons tied the score in the fourth and scored once in the fifth to reclaim the lead. Fort Scott scored three in the bottom of the fifth. M.Tourtillott led off with a grounder back to the pitcher and ended up on second when the throw ended up in right field. She stole third and scored from there on Gray's double to the left-center field fence.

Kim Harper bunted Gray to third, then J.Harper drew another walk and stole second. Weeter singled to short left field, plating K.Harper. J.Harper moved to third when Pittsburg's catcher couldn't field the throw in from the outfield and scored on a passed ball to put the Tigers ahead 9-7.

Pittsburg tied it again in the top of the sixth. Fort Scott took the lead, 10-9, when Gray's single to right scored M.Tourtillott, who had led off the inning with a double.

The Dragons scored a single run in the top of the seventh to tie the score at 10-10.

Weeter, M.Tourtillott and Gray each had 3 of Fort Scott's 13 hits. Maycumber had 2 hits. Gray and Maycumber each drove in 3 runs.

"We hit the ball hard," Metcalf said. "Gray, who's a freshman, hits the ball to the center-field fence."

Morgan Woods went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI for Pittsburg. Lizzy Willis was 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and Jenna Cuthbertson was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI. Mercedes Vogel scored 3 runs.

J.Harper pitched all 7 innings for the Tigers, allowing 8 earned runs on 9 hits and 5 walks while striking out 5.

"Coach (Melissa) Slayden did a great job of calling pitches," Metcalf said. "I'm letting her do that this year. It makes me kind of nervous because I'm not doing the usual thing.

"I don't know how many errors we had but we have to work a lot harder now."

Pittsburg's Lindsay Shoemaker allowed 9 earned runs on 13 hits and 8 walks while striking out just one batter.

Girard scored 11 runs in the bottom of the first inning of its semifinal and coasted from there before crossing over to Don Hewitt Field to meet the Tigers. A coin flip determined the home team, which was Girard.

The Trojans took advantage of four Tiger errors in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. Four hits and one error contributed to a 3-run second. Five hits and an error powered a 5-run fourth.

H.Tourtillott had 2 of the Tigers' hits. Kenzie Heatherly and Sidney Maycumber had the others.

Madison Smith went 3 for 3 with 2 RBI and scored 3 times for Girard. Leah Ruark was 3 for 4 and Jordan Davied was 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs.

The Tigers will face Pittsburg on the road April 7 in a Southeast Kansas League doubleheader.

Semifinal

Fort Scott...... 222 031 1 -- 11 13 5

WP -- J.Harper (1-0). LP -- Shoemaker.

Championship

Girard........... 330 5xx x -- 11 12 0

WP -- Dunlap. LP -- Gray (0-1).