ShawneeDispatch.com

Everything appeared to be in place for Shawnee Mission North to make a push into the Class 6A softball state tournament.

A 15-5 regular season — which included a third-place finish in the always-tough Sunflower League — landed the Indians the No. 2 seed and home-field advantage for Monday’s regional tournament at the Shawnee Mission School District Softball Complex.

Playing on familiar ground didn’t lead to a familiar result, however. The usually defensively sound Indians committed five errors and allowed eight unearned runs in an 8-6 loss to traditional power Olathe North.

The shaky defense spoiled a solid outing on the mound by Mary Pat Specht as she scattered eight hits and struck out six.

The loss brought a disappointing close to a season filled with numerous highs.

“The girls have looked forward to this all year,” SMN coach Steve Collins said. “(There were) a little jitters coming in, a little bit nervous, somewhat hesitant, and I think our hitting was a little rougher than it normally is, but going into regional play it’s always tough. We gave up a few unearned runs and that was really the story of the game.”

The Indians retired the Eagles in order in the first inning, but that’s where the smooth sailing stopped.

With two on and two outs in the top of the second, a throwing error to first base allowed two runs to score. Then a base hit brought home a third run as Olathe North took a 3-0 lead.

The Cally Cowan hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the third and pinch runner Jessica Bosworth came around to score on a single by Maddie Ricci to make it 3-1.

Two more errors in the top of the fourth allowed the Eagles to score three more runs and extend the lead to 6-1.

Lauren Preator’s one-out double sparked an Indian rally in the bottom of the inning. SM North connected for five hits in the inning — including a two-run single by Susan Specht — and took advantage of two Eagle errors while scoring five runs and tying the game at 6-6.

The Indians weren’t out of the woods yet.

“We had them rattled and we were coming back at 6-6, and some things happened to us once again in the field that we normally don’t see,” Collins said. “That cost us.”

A booted ground ball and a difficult fly ball that resulted in a drop contributed to the Eagles scoring two more runs in the fifth inning. The Eagles managed just one hit during their final three innings at the plate and were eliminated from the tournament.

SMNW FALLS TO OLATHE SOUTH

One bad inning was all it took for the Shawnee Mission Northwest softball team to fall to Olathe South in the first round of the Class 6A regional tournament.

The Falcons plated seven runs in the second inning and held on to win, 7-6.

SMNW took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Loryn Goebel hit a one-out single and Summer Kelley followed with a double. Both later scored.

A shaky second inning that included six hits and two walks allowed Olathe South to explode to a 7-2 advantage. Hits were limited the rest of the way for the Falcons, but the lead was just large enough.

Alex Crowe, Courtney Schmidt, Logan Roberts and Audrey Millard all scored in the fifth inning to bring the Cougars within a run, but they were unable to fully catch up.

Northwest ends its season with an 11-10 record.

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