Lady Tiger softball team loses tough games at the region tourney, awaits fate
Resuming a game that was halted on Wednesday with Kansas City leading Cowley 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the top-seeded Cowley College softball team lost 3-1 to fourth-seed Kansas City Kansas Community College in the second round of the Region VI Tournament played in Overland Park, KS on Thursday. Forced to play an elimination game a few hours later, the Lady Tigers lost to second-seeded Neosho County 3-2 in nine innings.
Resuming a game that was halted on Wednesday with Kansas City leading Cowley 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the top-seeded Cowley College softball team lost 3-1 to fourth-seed Kansas City Kansas Community College in the second round of the Region VI Tournament played in Overland Park, KS on Thursday. Forced to play an elimination game a few hours later, the Lady Tigers lost to second-seeded Neosho County 3-2 in nine innings.
Cowley (39-14) will await to see if they are among the teams selected for an at-large bid into the NJCAA Division II Softball Championships.
Before Thursday's games, Cowley had won 15 of its past 16 games and was riding high with the Jayhawk East Most Valuable Player (Mikah Vann), Freshman of the Year (Taverli Tennant), and Coach of the Year (Jenny Hoyt). The Lady Tigers had also gone 4-0 against KCK and Neosho in the regular season.
However, Lady Blue Devils' starting pitcher Alyssa Droge out-dueled Mikah Vann by allowing only two hits and one run in Kansas City's 3-1 victory. Cowley scratched across the tying run in the top of the fifth inning before Kansas City's Kinlei Boley belted a two-run homer off Vann in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift the Blue Devils to the 3-1 win. Kansas City is now 42-15.
Against Neosho, Cowley struck first by scoring a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. However, the Panthers scored a run in the third and fifth innings to tie the game at 2-2 and chase Cowley's starting pitcher, Aubrey Williams, from the game.
Vann (22-7) came on in relief of Williams and kept the game tied at 2-2 before Brinly Bancroft hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The homer for Bancroft was her 17th of the season.
The Panthers' Brenli Solano earned the win, allowing eight hits and two runs in nine innings.
Score by inning: R H E
Cowley 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 – 1 2 0
KCK 1 0 0 0 0 2 x – 3 5 0
Score by inning: R H E
Cowley 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – 2 8 1
Neosho 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 – 3 6 0