Lady Tigers run out of steam, lose in District title game

The top-seeded Cowley College softball team fought back through the losers bracket of the District B Tournament to advance to the title game against eighth-seeded Independence Community College before having its season come to an end with an 8-3 loss Sunday at the Lake Shawnee Softball Complex in Topeka.

Cowley lost to Independence by a score of 1-0 in the tournament's first game on Saturday despite getting 16 strikeouts from freshman pitcher Saige Smith. The Lady Tigers then defeated fourth-seeded Neosho County 6-0 later on Saturday to remain alive in the double-elimination tourney.

After knocking off fifth-seeded Fort Scott 10-5 behind a pair of Maci Cole home runs on Sunday morning, Cowley advanced to the championship round where they would need to defeat Independence twice in order to advance to the national tournament.

With freshman Saige Smith tossing every inning in the first three games of the tourney, the right-hander continued to mow down batters as she struck out eight and allowed only three hits in a 2-1 win over the Lady Pirates. Kyla Bonnarens homered for the second time in the tourney as Cowley made the most of its four hits.

In the championship game, Cowley scored a run in the first inning and got a two-run homer by Bonnarens in the top of the third to lead 3-0.

However, the lead would be short-lived as Independence got a solo home run from Alyssa Chavez and a two-run homer by Kelly Baker in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 3-3.

With Smith finally starting to show some cracks in the armor after throwing more than 400 pitches in two days, the Lady Pirates took a 4-3 lead on an RBI double by pitcher Graci Buckley in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Unable to return to the mound to pitch the sixth inning, Smith was relieved by freshman Jaala Nowlin. Happy to see Smith gone from the game, the Lady Pirates jumped all over Nowlin for four runs in the inning as they blew the game open.

Buckley (8-5) held Cowley to only four hits and retired the final eight batters she faced as Independence (25-21) advances to play at the NJCAA Division II National Softball Championships May 23-27 in Spartanburg, SC.

Smith finishes an impressive freshman campaign with a record of 24-7.

"I am really proud of how hard she fought this whole tournament," Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said. "She was a competitor and gave us a chance to win with everything she had. For Aaliyah (Ahmed) to catch every inning of the tourney in the heat with Saige throwing, those two gave me everything I could ask for in a coach, a lot of heart."

Cole finishes a stellar Cowley career with 24 home runs as a sophomore and 38 for her career. Bonnarens hit 18 home runs in her lone season with the team while batting over .500 with 80 runs batted in.

Other sophomores on the team that helped Cowley (40-14) to its first 40-win season since 2018 were Laramie Neff, Aaliyah Ahmed, Tye North, Sydney Price, Mya Chapman, Ellie Kuntz, Taylor Mercer, and Kennedy Toothman.

"It's heartbreaking for me to see them not reach one of their goals of making it to nationals," Hoyt said. "However, I have enjoyed this ride with them. They have been great leaders for our freshmen and continued to show a lot of fight and leadership this weekend. I am super thankful to be their coach and be a part of their journey."