PITTSBURG — The Humboldt Lady Cubs’ Cinderella season ended in the 2-1A regional championship with a 3-0 loss to the Colgan Panthers.
The Lady Cubs (17-9) entered the tournament as the eighth seed. They kicked off the tournament with a 9-5 upset of the third-seeded Central Raiders.
Their momentum stalled against second-seed Colgan (22-3).
After allowing a pair of runs in the first and second inning of Wednesday’s semifinal against Central, junior pitcher Jo Ellison shut out the Raiders over the next three inning while tallying six strikeouts.
As Ellison worked for the win, allowing five runs on three hits, the Lady Cubs provided her with enough run support to take the lead with a four-run second inning.
Senior shortstop Laney Hull put Humboldt on the scoreboard after her grounder forced an infield error, plating junior outfielder Lakyn Meadows.
Humboldt took the lead in their second at-bat with a Meadows RBI double, then junior catcher Leah Carman drove in Meadows to put the Lady Cubs up 5-4. Senior second baseman Skylar Hottenstein reached home on a passed ball, a bases-loaded walk and RBI by junior first baseman Kinley Hart and freshman outfielder Brynna Ellis put Humboldt ahead 9-5.
Ellison picked up the win after holding Central to a single run in the sixth inning, then closed out the contest with a pair of strikeouts.
Meadows led Humboldt in hits and RBIs while successful at 3 of 4 at-bats with two runs driven in. Carman and junior outfielder Hadley Galloway each had two hits and one RBI.
Ellison came out on the wrong end of a pitchers’ duel in the championship game.
She posted six strikeouts over six innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk.
The Lady Cubs could muster only three hits thanks to a 14-strikeout performance by Colgan junior Bella Ascanio.
Hottenstein, Galloway and Meadows managed to get on base, but Humboldt could not capitalize.
With the loss, the Lady Cubs end the season with a 19-10 record.
They graduated Hottenstein and Hull last week, two All-Tri-Valley League players, but look to return the rest of the lineup for the 2027 season.
