New Bloomfield was matched up Tuesday with North Callaway for the second time this season after a 15-0 Lady Wildcat win in the first one. Tuesday saw a similar result.
The No. 2 Lady Wildcats ended the No. 7 Ladybirds' season in the first round of the Class 2 District 3 Tournament in Harrisburg, defeating them 10-0 behind a seven-run third inning and a shutout performance in the circle from senior Asya Nichols.
After a three-up, three-down inning from Nichols, North Callaway senior Pressley Schmauch began her final outing of her career with a couple hit by pitches to put two on with one out. New Bloomfield senior Brooke Talbot had the first hit and drove in her first RBI of a day that saw her go 3-for-3 with three RBI. The Lady Wildcats carried a 2-0 lead after one.
Nichols held the Ladybirds hitless through three innings before the New Bloomfield bats built a commanding lead in the third inning that saw 12 Lady Wildcats step to the plate. With one run in and two outs recorded, junior Avery Nichols reached on a dropped third strike to open the door for the next four batters to reach base - one via an error and Talbot on a single to drive in her second and third RBI - until New Bloomfield led 9-0 after three innings.
Freshman Abigail Schmidt broke up the no-hitter with two outs in the fourth on a single. This was the first of three total hits for the Ladybirds, with the other two happening in the fifth inning off the bats of junior Ellie Bedsworth and senior Kyanne Kellerman. The North Callaway threat in the fifth was weakened when Bedsworth was tagged out on a rundown between first and second on the Kellerman single.
Asya Nichols retired the final two batters before ending the game with two outs recorded in the fifth inning on a home runto left field. Nichols pitched five shutout innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out four.
Schmauch allowed eight hits in 4 innings and also gave up 10 runs. Only four of those were earned because of two Ladybird errors. Schmauch also walked four and struck out three.
North Callaway's final overall record is 5-14 while its Eastern Missouri Conference record is 5-5. New Bloomfield (13-9) is scheduled to play No. 3 Montgomery County (16-7) at 6:30 p.m. today in Harrisburg after the Lady Wildcats defeated No. 6 Harrisburg 6-1 late Tuesday.