By Cody Morris, Tailgate TV
This past weekend the Ozark Highlands Conference took place in Versailles. The Butler Bears entered the tournament as a 3 seed (behind only El Do and Warsaw). The Lady Blackhawks came into the weekend as the 4 seed. Both Bates County teams fell in the first round, Butler lost to a very good, 2 seeded El Dorado Springs team with a final of 6-0, while the Lady Blackhawks were upset by the 5 seed, Versailles in a tightly contested, 10-8 matchup.
After their losses, the in-county rivals would face each other in the bottom bracket. This would be the second time that the two teams faced off, back in March Adrian came to Butler where the Bears grabbed a big 11-1 victory. The Bears would look to repeat this, while the Blackhawks were seeking to even the series.
Adrian quickly got on the board in the opening inning, as Clifton led off with a single for Adrian, Newkirk reached on an error, before Clifton scored on an an error, and Nelson got an RBI single that scored Newkirk. After scoring 2 quick runs, Adrian was able to sit the bears down in order to hold a 2-0 lead after 1.
2-0 would remain the score until the bottom of the 3rd when the Bears roared loudly, knocking in 5 runs in a 2-out rally. Ragan was walked to lead the inning off, the next two batters were retired, before a Cook reached on an Adrian error that also say Ragan score. Trudell took a base on balls, and Dubray was hit by a pitch which loaded the bases for the hard hitting Taylor Hudson. Hudson singled on a grounder that left the infield and collected 2 RBIs. Dubray would eventually cross the plate via a Blackhawks error. Brooke Miller collected an RBI single that would put the Lady Bears up 5-2.
Both teams grew silent offensively until the 7th. In the 7th Adrian found themselves trailing by 3, and they came out strong, attempting to crawl back in the game. Clifton led off the inning with a single that was followed immediately by McCammon grabbing an RBI triple. McCammon reached home on a ground out by Newkirk, bringing the Lady Blackhawks within just one run, with just 1 out. After a groundout, Nelson singled and Pierce and Engeman worked walks to load the bases up with two outs, and trailing by 1. The Bears were able to get the final batter out, without allowing another run and claimed a 5-4 win.
Adrian did out-hit the Bears, 6-4. Clifton and Nelson both recorded 2 hits for the Blackhawks.
Miller went 2 of 3 for the Lady Bears and recorded an RBI and a stolen base. Hudson went 1 of 3 from the dish and added to more RBIs to her count. Cook recorded a hit, a run, and 2 stolen bases for Butler.
photos by Erin Dubray
