The #2 seeded Jamestown Lady Eagles faced the #7 seeded Prairie Home Lady Panthers Wednesday in the first round of the Class 1 District 7 Softball Tournament at Pilot Grove, where after five extra innings tied at 8-8, Jamestown scored one run in the 12th inning to capture the win, 9-8.
"We struggled early on defense, which put us in a hole," Jamestown Coach E.H. Hirsvogel said. "I credit Prairie Home with putting the pressure on us for 12 innings. It was an exciting game to be a part of, but we could have made it easier on ourselves by eliminating errors."
"This was by far our best game of the season," Prairie Home Coach Glenda Scott said. "I'm proud of how the girls played under pressure. We committed some errors, but we also came up with some big plays."
Prairie Home's Makayla Zey recorded the loss with 17 strikeouts.
"Makayla pitched a super game," Scott said. "She pitched 192 pitches and was still throwing hard in the 12th inning."
Stephanie Birkmann recorded the win for Jamestown.
Ally Small led Prairie Home hits with a double, three singles and two RBI. Shianne Rhorer followed with four singles and two RBI. Zey had a double, three singles and one RBI, and Brooke Emmerich had a double and three singles. Rachel Distler had a single and one RBI, and Jessie Kennedy and Amber Carmichael each contributed a single.
"We hit hard," Scott said. "We just came up a run short."
The Lady Panthers end the season 4-10.
With the win, Jamestown advanced to semifinals Thursday, where the Lady Eagles lost 8-5 to #6 seeded Harrisburg.
"We played tough, but they had the hotter bats," Hirschvogel said.
In district play, Birkmann led Jamestown hits with a homerun, a double, three singles and two RBI. Mackenzie Strother followed with two triples, a double, two singles and three RBI. Robyn Eschenbrenner had a triple, a double, two singles and two RBI. Mickayla Strother chipped in with four singles and three RBI.
Jamestown ends the season 13-7.
Top-seeded New Franklin defeated #6 seeded Harrisburg 20-4 Friday for the district championship, to advance to Class 1 Sectionals at 12 p.m. today (Wednesday) against Sturgeon, at New Franklin.