Broncbusters power past Indy in Region VI Tournament opener

By Mike Pilosof

Dodge City, KS-First-year Head Coach, Amy Schmeckpeper admitted that her team had some nerves going into their postseason opener on Friday. But one powerful swing flipped the script and moved the Broncbusters one step closer to a region crown.

McKayla Encinias's fourth-inning grand slam broke a 3-3 tie, Lacey Kearsley and Tara Reid combined to strike out eight, and Garden City beat Independence 8-5 in the opening round of the Region VI Tournament at Legends Park.

"The girls got the job done today," Schmeckpeper said afterwards. "It was a total team effort."

Still, it took a while for the Broncbusters to figure out Independence starter Brooke Vicory, who after being given some early insurance on Mikalle Pair's two-out RBI single in the first that gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead, cruised through the first two innings by retiring the first six Broncbusters that she faced. But Garden City solved the Rubik's cube in the third. Reid led off the frame with a double, Micaela Mirabal moved her to third with a bunt single, and Moore laced a run-scoring base hit to knot the score. That was followed by a pair of bases-loaded walks to Encinias and Chacon that put the Broncbusters up 3-1.

"We were able to string enough hits together to put runs on the board," Schmeckpeper added.

Meantime Kearsley failed to hold the lead. She struck out Parker Moore to begin the fourth but plunked Kenna Ferguson and yielded a single to Summer Strickland. Two batters later, Allison Primeaux tied the game with a bases-clearing triple.

"It wasn't perfect, but I thought Lacey and Tara worked together in the circle to close it out," Schmeckpeper explained.

And they got plenty of assistance from Encinias, who put the Broncbusters up for good in the bottom of the fourth. After Reid, Moore and Elycia Johnson all reached to load the bases, the sophomore jumped on the first offering from Vicory, annihilating a fastball over the wall in center for a four-run advantage. Kearsley followed with an RBI double, and Garden City led 8-3.

The Pirates answered with a run in the fifth and another in the seventh when Sarena Sanders homered off Reid. But the freshman hurler bounced right back, getting Pair and Moore to ground out before Ferguson popped out to Mirabal at first to end the game.

Kearsley improved to 12-9 in the circle allowing four runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings. She struck out four. Reid replaced her in the fifth and gave up one run on two hits with three punchouts while finishing 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored.

Victory took the loss for Independence, surrendering eight runs on nine hits in six innings.

Next up: Region VI Tournament 2^nd round-Saturday, May 8 vs. Butler-11 a.m.