HUMBOLDT — The Yates Center High softball team extended its season with a Class 2-1A first round playoff victory over Chase County Monday afternoon.
The Wildcats used some early hard hitting and a dominant pitching performance from senior Molly Proper to propel themselves to a 15-5 win. Yates Center pulled away in the fourth inning with a five-run inning which was capped by a Kinley Morrison steal of home for the 12-4 lead.
“She’s (Proper) played so much ball over the years that she’s probably played in every condition there is,” Yates Center head coach Scott Grogg said. “It was nothing new for her, she tried to battle through the rain and when she’s on, she throws a lot of strikes.”
“She has a nice rise ball which has gotten a good amount of people out this year,” Grogg added. “Her changeup was good today because they struggled with the fastball.”
Chase County took the lead in the top of the first inning when a Bulldog took home on a Proper wild pitch for the early 1-0 lead.
Yates Center’s lineup responded immediately with three runs in the bottom of the first on a two-run single and an RBI single to take a 3-1 lead.
Chase County’s Grace O’Brien rocketed a two-run triple to left field in the third inning which knotted the game up at 3-3.
The Wildcats had an even more successful third inning. Lauren McConaghie laced an RBI single to center field for the 4-3 advantage. Izzy Lewis roped an RBI single to third base for the 5-3 edge. Avery Eakin sent an RBI single to third scoring a run. Proper then hit an RBI single down the left field line to give the Wildcats a 7-3 lead.
“It always helps our girls’ confidence if they can score in the first inning, even if we don’t score in the second inning they know that we can,” said Grogg. “The top of our order was really good and I was pleased how we came out and jumped on them.”
Proper and center fielder Kinley Morrison came up with a couple of nice catches in the field in the top of the fourth which showed off their quick instincts on some hard hit balls. The catches ultimately sent Yates Center to the bottom of the fifth holding onto a four-run lead.
O’Brien touched home plate again for the Bulldogs in the fourth when she took home plate on a wild pitch to cut the Wildcat lead to 7-4.
The Wildcats struck for eight more runs in the bottom of the fourth, beginning with an RBI triple to make it 8-4 and ending with a Morrison steal of home on a wild pitch to put Yates Center ahead, 12-4.
Three more runs then came across home plate in the bottom of the fourth inning for Yates Center as they took a 15-4 edge heading to the fifth.
“We’ve gotten better as the year went on. We played some tough games right out of the gate,” Grogg said. “I think we started off 0-4 and we had a couple of girls take half the season to really hit the middle of the ball. Today that came often, they hit like they should.”
Proper allowed only one more run in the fifth, mainly due to the pouring rain, for the 15-5 victory.
