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Lady Tigers reel off sixth consecutive victory, secure No. 1 district tournament seed
While the phrase "peaking at the right time" has become cliche in sports, that's precisely what the Nevada Lady Tiger softball team is doing.
With the postseason just around the corner Nevada extended its win streak to six games, dispatching visiting Carl Junction, 11-1, in a five-inning run-rule Wednesday evening at Bushwhacker Field.
The Lady Tigers also received good news on the postseason front, having secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Class 3 District 13 tournament, slated for Oct. 16-18 in Pleasant Hill.
Nevada (12-8) was dominant offensively and defensively from start-to-finish in Wednesday's regular-season home-finale with non-conference foe Carl Junction.
Freshman catcher Kirstin Buck got the Lady Tigers on the board courtesy of her first-inning 2-RBI single.
Nevada then padded their early-inning cushion, plating four in the second.
The offensive production came via Maggie Leisure's RBI-double to deep center, Tylin Heathman's run-scoring single — while Madison Hyder scored on a while pitch, and Bailey Ast was plated on an error for a 6-0 Lady Tiger advantage.
In the home-half of the fourth, Maleigha Hinton's sharply hit single up the middle increased Nevada's lead to 8-1.
The Lady Tigers then put the contest on ice with a three-run fifth, highlighted by Hyder's RBI-poke down the left field line, and Leisure's 2-RBI single to center.
In the circle starting pitcher Abby Harder was efficient, as the junior hurler had Carl Junction batters off-balance the entire contest.
"I thought Abby was sharp today," said Nevada head coach, Danny Penn. "She was attacking the strike zone, working down in the zone. "She threw her fastball, screwball, and change-up well. She was locating all three pitches."
Penn continued: "All game Abby was efficient. Loved Abby's aggressive presence today in the circle."
The only blemish on Harder's pitching line came in the fourth, as Izabella Burgess' two-out solo homer to center accounted for Carl Junction's lone run.
"She literally made one mistake the entire game," Penn said. "We had an 0-2 count. We were going to try to go low and inside, and she missed high, up-and-over the plate. Credit to the batter, she put a good swing on it."
As Burgess was rounding the basepaths, Harder's infield teammates converged to offer her words of encouragement.
"Knowing Abby, I'm sure she was upset with herself for missing on that 0-2 pitch," Penn said. 'That encouragement from your teammates is big, because you might be upset with yourself, and it may effect the next pitch that you make. So, her infield mates picking her up, that's big. She threw a great game today, just one little blip, and that was it."
Penn was also thoroughly impressed with his club's performance at the dish, as the Lady Tigers collected their third consecutive run-rule victory.
"One through nine, we had a lot of good at-bats," he said. "We had five, deep fly-ball outs to straightaway center field, and a couple doubles that went over the center fielder's head. So, timing-wise, we're right on it."
Penn continued: "Going into the season, we envisioned having a very deep lineup. Now we're seeing it."
UP NEXT
After having Thursday's non-conference home clash with Clinton rained out for a second time, the Lady Tigers are slated to return to the diamond today, for the 20th annual Carthage Invitational.
Nevada opens against Joplin, with first pitch set for 5:30 p.m. at Fair Acres Sports Complex.
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