Lady Dragons capture third in Tipton Tourney

The Bunceton Lady Dragons softball team captured third in the Tipton Tournament over the weekend by finishing with a record of 2-1.

In the opening round against Tuscumbia, the Lady Dragons defeated the Indians by a score of 13-2. Then, after losing in the second round against the host team by a score of 6-0, Bunceton came back and beat CCAA rival Prairie Home in the third-place game in a nailbiter by a score of 7-6.

In the game against Tuscumbia, the Lady Dragons plated five runs in the second and then sent one run across in the third, three in the fourth and four in the sixth to garner the victory.

Chelsea Emde took the loss on the mound for Bunceton by giving up no runs on three hits and two walks while striking out nine batters in six innings.

Bunceton also out-hit Tuscumbia 6-3, with Brittany Jones going 1-for-4 with a triple and four RBIs. Lizzy Maddex was 1-for-2 with a triple and two RBIs while Coree Kuster added a double and one RBI, Chelsea Emde with a single and two RBIs and Erica Kahle, Sam Brandes and Kaitlyn Fountain each with one single and one RBI.

In the game against Tipton, the Lady Dragons trailed from the first inning on while giving up two in the first, two in the third and two again in the fifth to suffer the loss.

Chelsea Emde took the loss on the mound for Bunceton by giving up two earned runs on 11 hits and one walk while striking out three batters in 4 2/3 innings.

Brittany Jones and Lizzy Maddex each had one single in the game for the Lady Dragons.

Meanwhile, in the final game against Prairie Home, Bunceton led 1-0 after one, 4-2 after three and 7-2 after four. The Lady Panthers made it close after that with three runs in the fifth and one again in the sixth to cut the lead to one.

Emde was the winning pitcher in the game for Bunceton while Taylor Zey took the loss for Prairie Home.

Freshman Sam Brandes led the hitting attack in the game for Bunceton, 3-3 on the season, with a double and a triple. Brittany Jones also had two hits with two singles and one RBI while Emde finished the game with a triple and one RBI, Maddy Berwanger with a single and two RBIs, Erica Kahle and Taylor Hurt each with one single and one RBI and Kaitlyn Fountain and Jessica Wieland with one RBI each.

For Prairie Home, Megan Morton went 3-for-4 with three singles and two RBIs. Kristynn Watson was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs while Taylor Zey added two singles and one RBI and Kendra Stinson and Jessie Kennedy with two singles each.

In the first-two games of the tournament for Prairie Home, the Lady Panthers fell to Versailles 14-2 in four innings and then beat Eldon in a tight game by a score of 10-9.

Zey also doubled and drove in two runs for Prairie Home while Katlynn Watson and Megan Morton each had one single.

Meanwhile, in the game against Eldon, the Lady Panthers actually trailed 1-0 after the first inning before rallying with two runs in the bottom-half of the third to go up 2-1. Then, after both teams plated one in the fourth, Eldon came back and outscored Prairie Home 4-3 in the fifth to tie the game at 6-all. The Lady Mustangs held a brief lead in the sixth after pushing across three runs to go up 9-6. However in the bottom-half of the inning, the Lady Panthers rallied with four runs for the victory.

Zey was the winning pitcher in the game for Prairie Home by giving up nine runs on four hits and 13 walks while striking out six.

Kristynn Watson went 2-for-2 in the game for the Lady Panthers with a single, double and one RBI. Katlynn Watson had two singles and two RBIs while Zey tripled and drove in two runs. Kalindra Bowling had one single.