Seward Softball Slips Past Pratt

The Seward County Lady Saints kept their fans on the edge of their seats once again on Thursday afternoon at Lady Saints Field in Liberal, squeaking past visiting Pratt 2-0 in the deciding game of a best of three series with the Beavers in the 1st Round of the 2015 Region VI Tournament. Seward advances to the Final Four of the tournament where they will take on Garden City Saturday at noon in El Dorado.

Both teams had chances to take the early lead in game three of the best of three series as Pratt put two on with nobody out in the 1st while Seward did the same, but neither was able to push a run across and it remained a 0-0 game to the 2nd.

Each team was sat down in order in the 2nd and the Beavers loaded the bases in their half of the 3rd with just one out, but once again were unable to score as the game stayed scoreless into the bottom of the 3rd.

The Lady Saints caught a break in the 3rd, scoring without the benefit of a hit as Jaidyn Mawhinney walked with one out, stole second, then moved to third on a passed ball and eventually scored the game’s first run on a wild pitch to give Seward a 1-0 lead.

Seward extended upon their lead in the 4th when Vanessa Oakden sent a 1-1 pitch screaming through the wind and over the left center field wall for a solo home run and Lady Saint starter Alexa O’Brien blanked the Beavers in the top of the 5th to keep it a 2-0 game.

It remained a 2-0 game into the 7th where a one out walk brought the tying run to the plate for Pratt. The next batter hit a rocket right back through the middle but O’Brien was able to get a glove on it and the ball ricocheted to shortstop Danielle Orr who fired to second for the second out of the inning. That brought to the plate the Beavers best hitter, Lauren Rambat and she battled O’Brien in a 12 pitch at bat before O’Brien finally got her to pop up to left field where Kolby Hamilton squeezed the final out and gave Seward County a 2-0 win.

There wasn’t much offense to speak of for either side in the Seward win as the Lady Saints managed just 4 hits while Pratt had 3. O’Brien controlled the Beavers offense all day, limiting them to just the 3 hits in her fifth shutout of the year. The freshman improved to 17-13 on the year, walking 3 and striking out 4 in the contest. Oakden was the offensive hero for the Lady Saints, going 1 for 3 with a home run and the games only RBI.

SEWARD COUNTY/PRATT GAME THREE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2014-15/boxscores/20150430_6bql.xml>

Seward improves to 36-23 after picking up back to back wins in do or die contests. The Beavers end their season at 10-37 with the defeat. Next up for Seward is a Saturday matchup with rival Garden City in the Region VI Tournament Quarterfinals. The Lady Saints will battle the Busters at 12:00 in El Dorado with a trip to the Region VI Semifinal on the line. Seward and Garden split four regular season matchups with the Lady Saints taking both in Liberal and the Busters winning two in Garden City.

Roy Allen