Bison softball team headed back to state

ALLIANCE -- Sophomore pitcher Marissa Wallace dominated the Chadron Eagles in the game that sent the McCook Bison softball team to the Nebraska Class B state tournament.

Wallace pitched a four-hitter and struck out 13 as the Bison defeated Chadron 3-0 in the Class B-6 district championship game Friday afternoon at Alliance.

The Bison, 27-3, won their seventh straight district title and will compete at the state tournament next week at Omaha.

McCook seniors Jillian Bryant, Stephanie Douglas, Andrea Soden and Kayla Wilson accepted the first-place district trophy.

The Bison scored one run in the top of the second inning and two in the sixth.

Wallace (6-1), whose only loss came on a no-hitter loss to Kearney, walked one. She struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to put an exclamation point on the victory.

"This is quite an accomplishment for the seniors," said Bison head coach Dale Lortz. "We've got this string going and they didn't want to break it. This is a team effort.

"When she (Marissa) gets her change-up over the plate, she's tough. Michelle McKenna does a great job catching her."

McCook will likely be the No. 4 or No. 5 seed at the state tournament.

"We're ready to go -- we're excited for the kids. This is a great group going down (to Omaha) -- we'll give it our best shot."

Chadron, 24-5, will wait to see if it will receive a wild card berth in the state tournament.

The pairings will be released on Saturday by the NSAA.

In the 5-1 win over Chadron in the semifinals, the Bison scored two runs in the second on two Chadron errors and then added three in the fourth.

In the fourth, Bryant reached base on a bunt single, stole second and scored on McKenna's single.

Ashley Carfield, who replaced Jessica Einspahr in the lineup after Einspahr was hit by a pitch on the wrist, doubled home pinch-runner Danae McCorkle.

Andrea Soden, who went 2-for-2 with a walk, singled in Carfield.

Chadron threatened a couple times, but McCook junior pitcher Taryn Placzek and the Bison defense held off the threats.

Placzek pitched a complete game for the win -- her second victory of the district and 13th of the season against one loss.

The Bison had seven hits in the game. Chadron also had seven hits, but committed five errors.

"We hit the ball pretty well, " Lortz said on his radio postgame show. "It kind of got contagious. This put us in the driver's seat."

Lortz said Einspahr, the team's leading hitter, had a deep bruise on her wrist but did not suffer a fracture.