Lady Wildcats softball takes third place at Hallsville Tournament

HALLSVILLE - Four New Blooomfield players drove in two runs each to spark the Lady Wildcats softball team to a 10-2 romp against the Harrisburg Lady Bulldogs in the third-place game of the Hallsville Tournament on Saturday.

New Bloomfield (4-1) erupted for five runs in the top of the first inning and used a five-run outburst in the fifth to end the game on the mercy rule. Harrisburg tallied single runs in the bottom of the first and third.

Sophomore shortstop Jenna Nichols, sophomore third baseman Asya Nichols, sophomore catcher Brooke Talbot and freshman designated hitter Raegan Smart each had two RBI as the Lady Wildcats collected nine hits.

Nichols was 1-for-3 with a double and Nichols finished 1-for-3 and scored two runs. Talbot and Smart were both 1-for-3. Junior center fielder Makenna Branch went 2-for-2 and scored twice, while freshman left fielder Brinley Dysart was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

Junior starter Sarah Abbott (3-1) tossed a two-hitter to log the complete-game victory for New Bloomfield. Abbott gave up two runs, one earned, struck out four and walked one.

Abbott also finished 1-for-1 with an RBI.

The Lady Wildcats opened tournament play earlier Saturday with a 3-1 win against Van-Far. New Bloomfield was blanked by Salisbury 16-0 in the semifinals, before bouncing back in the third-place game.

"It's great to see all the girls working together to reach their goals," Lady Wildcats head coach Dara Reinkemeyer said. "They stayed positive and responded to some new and difficult situations.

"It was nice to see their resiliency. The tournament was also a learning experience to help us see some things that we still need to work on."

New Bloomfield travels to Russellville for a Show-Me Conference game at 5 p.m. Thursday.