The Lady Raiders couldn’t silence Butler County’s bats on Thursday, as a late offensive outburst stifled Trinity’s comeback attempts in a 6-4 loss in the 12th District Championship.
After a scoreless first inning, it was the Lady Bears who got on the board first in top of the second by taking advantage of an error and a hit by pitch to start the inning. It was a two-out two-run triple from eighth grader Parker Willoughby that opened up the scoring, while junior Carley Jones slashed an RBI single to center to take a 3-0 lead.
Meanwhile, junior Avery Gleason had complete control of the game from the circle. The Lady Raiders couldn’t crack the code offensively, trailing 3-0 with only four hits on the day going into the sixth.
But then Trinity’s bats came alive, starting with a leadoff walk and an RBI double from freshman Raylee Higdon that made it a 3-1 game. Following a single from junior Abby Payne, junior Allie Barnett knotted things up at 3-3 with a two-run double.
The Lady Raiders didn’t stop there though, claiming the lead with an RBI groundout from sophomore Georgia Howard to make it a 4-3 game going into the seventh. But with Butler County possibly facing its last three outs of the season, they were able to turn on the offense for the first time in five innings.
The Lady Bears wasted no time getting going, as sophomore Addison Miller singled and then advanced to second on an error before Willoughby’s RBI double the next at-bat knotted things up at 4-4. Butler County proceeded to rattle off two more RBI doubles, coming from Jones and sophomore Madison Clark to take a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
Gleason then locked back in for the Lady Bears, silencing the Lady Raiders one last time to secure the 6-4 12th District Championship win.
Junior Allie Graham didn’t have her best stuff in her start, allowing five earned runs on seven hits, two walks and two strikeouts in six innings. Barnett handled the seventh after the game became tied at 4-4, allowing one earned run on two hits.
Barnett led the way at the plate for Trinity as well, tallying two RBIs while Howard and Higdon followed with one each. The Lady Raiders might have fallen short of a district championship, but they will find themselves in the 3rd Region Tournament because of their success this season.
