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Bison girls second at McCook softball meet
McCook couldn't solve Cozad's ace pitcher Saturday evening, and that meant a close loss for the Bison in the McCook Invitational softball tournament championship game.
McCook lost a 2-1 decision to Cozad in the tournament finals Sept. 4 at the Jaycees Sports Complex.
The Bison had four hits against Cozad ace Carly Henry -- but three went for extra bases, including an RBI triple by Gretchen Sehnert and doubles by Brittany Bloomfield and Megan Ruppert.
"We definitely had our chances. Our hits will keep coming," said McCook head coach Jason Cochran. "We're going to keep seeing quality competition and we're going to get there.
"We're just swinging too hard instead of just making contact. When we made contact you saw Ruppert's (double) hit the fence and G's (Gretchen Sehnert's triple) hit the fence. Now if everybody will do that we'll be fine. We're not making contact, we're trying to hit it out of the park instead of just making contact and letting it go."
"We're two weeks into the season and we've got a long way to go, and we've got a lot of good teams to play and get there, and we'll keep improving."
First-round win over Chadron
McCook opened the tournament with a 14-3 win over Chadron. The Bison blasted 11 hits, including triples by Erin Premer and Ruppert. Broomfield drove in four runs, while Amanda Einspahr, Kelsey Gillen and Rachel Leiter had two RBI each.
The game was tied 2-2 after two innings, but the Bison scored a pair of runs in each of the third and fourth innings, then three more in the fifth and five runs in the top of the sixth.
Kelsey Gillen was the winning pitcher for McCook. Gillen went five innings, allowed three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and two walks. Abbi Sheets worked the final inning, allowing no runs and one hit with two strikeouts.
The Bison committed no errors in the win over Chadron.
Close game vs. Gering in semifinals
McCook faced Gering in the semifinals Saturday afternoon. The Bison scored all the runs they need with four tallies in the bottom of the fourth inning. Gering rallied with a run in the top of sixth, and one more in the seventh. Gering brought the tying run to the plate with two outs and a runner on second. But Gillen induced a ground ball to third baseman Taylor Matson, who threw to Premer at first for the final out.
Gillen went the distance, scattering seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Einspahr led McCook with three hits, while Gillen and Premer had two hits each. Gillen drove in two runs in the fourth while Premer and Madison Chitwood also had RBI hits in McCook's big inning.
Pitching duel
Cozad advanced to the finals with wins over Alliance (9-0) and North Platte (9-1). Gillen and Henry engaged in pitching duel in the championship game.
Cozad broke through first with a run in the bottom of the fourth on an infield grounder, a sacrifice bunt, a passed ball that moved the runner to third, and Henry's RBI double off the right-field fence.
McCook tied the score in the top of the fifth. Ruppert blasted a two-out double, with Becca Sehnert replacing catcher Ruppert as a courtesy runner. Becca's older sister Gretchen blasted a triple to the outfield fence to score the tying run. Gretchen was stranded at third after a fly out.
The Haymakers pushed across the winning run in the sixth on a walk, a passed ball and a hit by Jessica Finnegan.
McCook went down in order in the seventh as Cozad held on for the win.
Gillen allowed five Cozad hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Coach Cochran was happy with his team's effort throughout the tournament.
"It was a great day overall," he said. "It hurts to lose that last one. But we did a nice job all day and we got to the championship, and it was a good day.
"The first game (vs. Chadron) we had to wake up a little bit. It took us a while but we started rolling. Gering's a quality team, and they'll bite somebody in the end. They have a nice little program going. All three of those teams, we'll see at districts. We'll see what happens then, those are the games that count.
"We've got a long way to go and we're going to see some quality opponents, and that's going to get us ready."
McCook returns to action Tuesday, Sept. 7, at Lexington, with junior varsity action opening at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity contest.
McCOOK INVITATIONAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
Saturday, Sept. 4 at Jaycees Sports Complex
First-Round Games
McCook 14, Chadron 4
Cozad 12, Alliance 0
Gering 6, Gothenburg 3
North Platte 7, Holdrege 1
Championship Semifinals
McCook 4, Gering 2
Cozad 9, North Platte 1
Consolation Semifinals
Holdrege 12, Alliance 0
Gothenburg 13, Chadron 2
Seventh Place Finals
Chadron 6, Alliance 4
Fifth Place Finals
Holdrege 8, Gothenburg 1
Third Place Finals
North Platte 3, Gering 1
Championship Finals
Cozad 2, McCook 1