Lady Wildcats softball team takes second place at Hallsville Tournament

New Bloomfield falls prey to late Hallsville rally

HALLSVILLE - The host Hallsville Lady Indians rallied for two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to edge the New Bloomfield Lady Wildcats softball team 8-7 in the championship of the Hallsville Tournament on Saturday.

The loss was the first of the season for New Bloomfield. The Lady Wildcats (6-1) reached the title game with a 6-2 win over Salisbury in the semifinals. New Bloomfield began tournament play Saturday morning with a 7-5 triumph over Sturgeon.

"I am very proud of how the girls worked together as a team," Lady Wildcats head coach Dara Reinkemeyer said. "Even when things got rough, they never gave up and they continued to fight."

New Bloomfield forced extra innings in the championship, scoring a run in the top of the sixth to tie the game at 6-all. Sophomore catcher Shelby Ruppel doubled to left with one and was replaced by sophomore pinch-runner Kassi O'Dowd, who went to third on junior right fielder Rylee Rackers' single to left.

O'Dowd raced home to pull the Lady Wildcats even when junior third baseman Kate Baxter grounded out to first.

New Bloomfield then produced the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth. Junior pinch-runner Marlena Burns was placed on second on the tiebreaker rule to start the inning and moved up on Ruppel's sacrifice. Baxter followed with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Burns to put the Lady Wildcats on top 7-6.

Hallsville, though, countered with its own comeback in the bottom of the eighth. The Lady Indians used three singles and a sacrifice to manufacture their two runs and pull out the title.

Baxter went 2-for-5 with two doubles and a run scored as New Bloomfield collected 10 hits. Rackers was also 2-for-4 and scored once, while sophomore shortstop Madi Craighead finished 1-for-4.

Freshman Kaylee Beck suffered the loss for the Lady Wildcats, working four innings in relief of junior starter Madison Love. Beck gave up an earned run on four hits, struck out two and walked none.

New Bloomfield starts Show-Me Conference play at Russellville at 5 p.m. Thursday.