Left Arms of Craker & Sitter Give Seward Win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Garden City Community College | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
|
Seward County Community College | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
Seward County ace Katelyn Craker used her left arm to keep rival Garden City at bey for 6 2/3 innings Saturday afternoon in the Region VI Tournament in Wichita's Wilkins Stadium. Lady Saints centerfielder Andrea Sitter used her left arm to get the final out, gunning down the would be tying run at the plate to end the game and give the Lady Saints a 2-1 win over the Busters in the quarterfinal round.
The Lady Saints got off to a slow start in the opening inning of the game against Garden City as the Busters came out swinging with three 1st inning hits to push across a run to take an early 1-0 lead.
With one swing in the bottom of the 2nd, the Lady Saints tied the score as Danielle Orr launched the first pitch she saw over the left field wall at Wichita State University to tie the game at 1.
Seward played small ball to grab the lead in the 3rd, getting a walk and a bunt single to put two on with nobody out and a Garden City error allowed the Lady Saints to score to put them in front for the first time in the game 2-1.
Lady Saints starter Katelyn Craker kept Garden City guessing through the middle innings, stranding a runner in the 4th and three more in the 5th to keep Seward on top 2-1.
Seward had a prime opportunity to extend upon their lead in the bottom of the 5th as they put runners on the corners with just one out, but a line drive double play killed the drill and kept the score 2-1 after 5.
Craker needed just four pitches to get through the 6th, but again Seward couldn't cash in a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the inning and quickly the game went to the 7th and final inning with the score still 2-1.
A single and a wild pitch put the Busters in business in the top of the 7th but after a pair of pop outs, Garden City's runner remained at second base with two outs. Down to their last strike, Garden City got a single up the middle that looked like it would score the equalized, but Seward sophomore centerfielder Andrea Sitter had other plans as she picked the ball up and fired it to catcher Vanessa Oakden who jumped up and tagged the runner in one motion to finish the game and give the Lady Saints a 2-1 win.
Garden City actually outhit the Lady Saints 7-6 in the game, but it was the lone error of the game on Garden City that proved the difference in Seward's one run victory. Along with the big defensive play to end things, Sitter also had 2 hits in 3 chances and also stole her 38th base of the season in the win. Orr was 2 for 3 with the home run in the five hole for Seward. Craker went the distance to improve her 2014 record to an impressive 22-4 as she scattered 7 hits, yielding just 1 run while striking out 5.
SEWARD COUNTY/GARDEN CITY BOX SCORE
The win for the Lady Saints improves their record to 46-11 while Garden City falls to 22-32.
Seward now stacks up with rival Butler in the first Region VI Semifinal game. The Lady Saints and Lady Grizzlies will get underway in the first game of the day at Wichita State's Wilkins Stadium Sunday morning at 10:00. The winner will advance to the Championship Game at 4:00 while the loser will begin a long road back to the title game with a 2:00 matchup against either Garden City or Barton.