Lady Hounds fall in district finals

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

After an impressive 9-0 victory over Racine Southern in the Division IV softball district semi-finals, Coach Matthias Applegate and his Manchester Lady Greyhounds were back in the district championship game for the third consecutive season, facing the Notre Dame Lady Titans, the #3 ranked Division IV team in the state. That match up took place on May 16 at Rio Grande University and was a tall task for the Lady Hounds as they face ND pitcher Gwen Sparks, arguably the best hurler in the district and a Division I commit to the University of Pittsburgh.

As it turned out, the story of the game was the pitching of Sparks as she allowed just three Manchester hits and struck out 19 Lady Hounds as the Lady Titans advanced back to their postseason home, that being the regional tournament., with a 5-1 win.

The game couldn’t have begun any better for the Lady Hounds in the top of the first as leadoff hitter Jenna Campbell blasted Sparks’ first pitch of the game to the wall in right center for a two-base hit, then moved to third on a wild pitch. With a runner at third an no out, Sparks left Campbell stranded 60 feet away as she struck out Rylie Young, Bristynn McClanahan and Elianna Applegate to end the early threat.

Young got the start in the center circle for the Lady Hounds and perhaps was pressing early, knowing that she had little room for error with Sparks on the other side. In the bottom of the first, Young walked the first two Notre Dame hitters and the old “walks will haunt” maxim came true as both of those runners eventually came home to give the Lady Titans a 2-0 advantage.

With Sparks whiffing the next six Manchester hitters, the Lady Titans added to their lead by plating two more in the bottom of the third, both of those coming across on a long two-run homer off the bat of senior slugger Kyndall Ford and Notre Dame had what was a comfortable 4-0 margin, considering the way Sparks was stifling the Manchester bats.

The Lady Hounds broke the Sparks strikeout string at nine when Young grounded back to the mound to lead off the top of the fourth, but McClanahan and Applegate again went down, looking and swinging, and the Notre Dame lead stayed at 4-0. After the Ford homer, Young settled down and retired the next nine Lady Titans and the Greyhound offense finally got on the board in the top of the sixth. Campbell again liked the first pitch she saw and roped a triple to deep center, followed by Young just missing a homer and getting a double off the left field fence to make it 4-1.

Notre Dame matched that Manchester score with one in the bottom of the sixth, that one coming on a wild pitch, and in the top of the seventh, the Lady Hounds had one last chance. Elianna Applegate grounded out to short to start the frame followed by Addilyn Hunter reaching on a Sparks throwing error. Mahayla Brown and Abby Neria were next to the dish and they ended the game as the 18th and 19th strikeout victims for Sparks as the Lady Titans finished off the title game and claimed their fourth consecutive district championship by the 5-1 final.

:We started off a little slow and got down a few runs,” said Coach Applegate. “We started to time her (Sparks) up a little bit towards the end of the game, but it was just too late. I was super proud of the ladies in that they never got down and kept fighting until the end.”

The Lady Hounds only managed the three hits and two of them, a double and a triple, came off the bat of the team’s only senior, Jenna Campbell.

“Jenna has been a leader on and off the field throughout her whole career,” said coach Applegate. “I have coached Jenna since the first year she played softball and have been blessed with her ever since. She has dominated not only as the leadoff hitter but also as the captain of our infield at shortstop.. He passion and love for the game is gonna be missed immensely.”

Though the district final loss was disappointing, the positive is that Coach Applegate has turned the Manchester program around and made the Lady Hounds a name that is now perennially associated with success in the regular season and the postseason.

“We have set a very high standard the last few seasons as this is our third straight season in the district finals or regionals,” said the Manchester head coach. “Our girls set some pretty high goals at the start of the season and they have worked extremely hard in obtaining them. I hope these expectations continue for years to come as well as the success. I couldn’t be prouder of the work and dedication these young ladies have put into accomplishing their goals.”

Though the Lady Hounds’ tournament run is over, they still have some unfinished business in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, with a share of first place in the small school division at stake. On Monday, Manchester was back in Fayetteville to complete a game that was earlier suspended with the Hounds on top 3-2 . On Wednesday, the Lady Hounds will host the Eastern Brown lady Warriors in another makeup contest. Wins in both of those outings would put the Manchester girls into a possible three-way tie for the top spot in the small school, depending on how other makeup games shake out.

(Update: The Lady Hounds took a tough loss on Monday, losing 5-4 in walk-off fashion to the Fayetteville Lady Rockets, dropping to 9-3 in conference play.)

Manchester

000 001 0 —1

Notre Dame

202 001 — 5

Manchester Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Campbell 3-1-2-0, Young 3-0-1-0, McClanahan 3-0-0-0, E. Applegate 3-0-0-0, Hunter 3-0-0-0, Brown 3-0-0-0, Neria 3-0-0-0, J. Applegate 2-0-0-0, Freeman 2-0-0-0, Team 25-1-3-1.

Extra-Base Hits: Campbell 2B, 3B; Young 2B

Notre Dame Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): M. Entler 2-1-0-0, Soard 2-2-1-0, K. Ford 3-1-1-2, Sparks 3-0-0-1, Schaefer 2-1-1-0, Rush 3-0-1-0, M. Ford 3-0-0-0, K. Entler 2-0-0-0, Team 22-5-4-3.

Extra-Base Hits: Schaefer 2B; K. Ford HR

Manchester Pitching:

Young (L) 6 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K

Notre Dame Pitching:

Sparks (W) 7 IP 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 19 K