UNIONTOWN — Marmaton Valley High’s Wildcats, then Uniontown High’s Eagles ran into a buzz saw called Pittsburg St. Mary’s-Colgan last Friday in Kansas Class 2-1A Softball Regional play.
Colgan rolled through the regional tournament back to the state tournament. The Panthers defeated Marmaton Valley 8-0 in semifinal action.
Uniontown was moving into the regional championship game by defeating Jayhawk-Linn 4-1. The Eagles were the No. 2 seeded team and would face top-seeded Colgan in the final.
Being on their home field did not help the Eagles. The Panthers needed five innings to win the championship 11-0.
Colgan’s Morgan Gilmore threw a no-hitter against Uniontown. The losing pitcher was Tayler Shook, who pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing 10 runs on 11 hits, five walks and one hit batter. Shook had one strikeout.
Ithaca Marlier came on in relief for the Eagles. She pitched 1 2/3 innings allowing one run on one hit.
“Colgan is a very good team and completely overwhelmed us,” said Alan Shinn, Uniontown softball coach. “This is the second year in a row that we have reached the finals of the regional. We have gotten better each year and next year we hope to take additional steps upward.”
Uniontown posted its best record ever at 13-6. The Eagles lose four seniors — Candice Clayton, Marlier, Rayma Ridge and Cassie Schwalm.
Marmaton Valley’s Wildcats did come up with six hits against Colgan in their semifinal contest. Cheyanne Miller had two singles. Alysha Westhoff had a double. Hitting a single each were Michelle Heskett, Kailey Boyd and Kacie Shadden.
“We were able to hit the ball but we couldn’t get hits back-to-back to score runs,’ said Brenda Mills, Marmaton Valley head coach. “We were put out twice going home when we should have stayed at third.”
Shelby Norman took the semifinal loss for the Wildcats. She gave up four hits, walked five and struck out four.
“This was a great bunch of girls and you’re never ready for the season to end,’ Mills said. “We had good defensive plays against Colgan.”
The Wildcats finished at 9-11. They lose two seniors, Norman and Westhoff. Mills said the two did a good job leading the team this season.
Uniontown scored single runs in the second, third, fifth and sixth innings to win 4-1 over Jayhawk-Linn in the semifinals.
Shook was the winning pitcher, giving up three hits, walking four, hitting one batter and striking out five. She also had two doubles for the Eagles.
Hitting a single each for Uniontown against Jayhawk-Linn were Tiffany Poyner, Hope Jurgensen, Ridge and Audrey Dixon.
“Our pitching and defense was outstanding,” Shinn said of the Eagles.
Uniontown High’s Eagle girls take second in 2-1A regional
