Lady Tiger softball team runs out of pitching at region tourney

The Lady Tigers lost to Johnson County 6-5 before defeating fourth-seeded Allen 15-8 to advance to the region championship, where they would need to defeat Johnson County twice. Unfortunately, Cowley ran out of gas in an 11-4 loss to the Lady Cavaliers.

Cowley (32-23) will now await word to see if they are one of the teams selected to compete at the NJCAA Division II National Championships on May 19-24 in Spartanburg, SC.

With Dacey Morris opening the district tournament with complete game shutout wins over Neosho and Kansas City, the right-hander made her third start in three days and worked in and out of trouble throughout Friday's game against Johnson County.

Cowley led 5-2 after a solo home run by Carsen Carpenter in the top of the seventh inning, and were three outs away from advancing to the championship round unbeaten. However, after 300-plus pitches in three days, Morris finally started to show signs of fatigue.

Johnson County's Kennedy Glassford led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo home run, and the hits kept coming as Mariah Herrera hit a two-run double to tie the game at 5-5 and Alaryce Millard hit the team's third double of the inning to score Herrera with the winning run.

Morris had her six-game winning streak come to an end, allowing 16 hits and six runs in 6 1/3 innings pitched.

Taylor Clay, Gracy Smith, and Carpenter had two hits apiece in the defeat.

Elsa Carrillo (13-4) followed Johnson County starting pitcher Kyleigh Whitehurst on the mound and earned the win after allowing two hits and one run in 3 1/3 innings.

Cowley would bounce back and defeat Allen 15-8 on Saturday to advance to the championship round against Johnson County.

In the win over Allen, Cowley out-hit the Red Devils 14-12, and the Lady Tigers took advantage of eight Allen errors.

Third baseman Hannah Howard led Cowley at the plate, going 3-for-4. Breanna Curry added two hits and three runs scored, and Carpenter scored four times.

"I am proud of our players and how hard they fought through the tournament," Cowley head coach Jenny Hoyt said. "Getting on the losing side of the bracket is always a harder road, but I felt like our players handled it well and fought until the end."

Morris earned her third win of the tournament and improved her record to 19-9 on the season.

"Dacey was a leader for us in the circle all weekend," Hoyt said. "I am beyond proud of how she put the team on her back in the circle."

With Morris having pitched in four games in four days, Cowley had to turn to Madison Baker to start against Johnson County. Baker (1-5) had not pitched since April 11, and the rust showed as the Cavaliers got to Baker for nine runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched.

Sophomore Taverli Tennant hit her team-high 16^th home run, but it was not enough as the Lady Tigers suffered an 11-4 loss.

Johnson County improves to 37-11 and wins the district title for the second straight season. The Cavaliers were led by catcher Reese Pattison's two home runs and six runs batted in.

Howard (10-of-17, four runs scored, four runs batted in), left fielder Hailee Scarborough, and Dacey Morris were named to the Plains District All-Tournament Team.

"Hannah was a strong piece for us this weekend in the lineup and really stepped up for the team," Hoyt said. "Hailee's role in the outfield is huge for this team. Her confidence has grown so much this season. I am so happy for her that she was recognized for the all-tournament team, as she was a clutch piece to our outfield this weekend."

Score by inning:

Game three                   R H E

Johnson 1 0 0 3 0 0 1 – 5 9 1

Cowley   0 1 0 0 0 1 4 – 6 16 1

Game four                    R H E

Cowley 1 0 0 5 3 1 5 – 15 14 0

Allen    0 0 2 0 6 0 0 – 8 12 8

Game five                     R H E

Cowley  2 1 1 0 0 0 0 – 4 11 0

Johnson 4 0 5 2 0 0 x – 11 10 1