Pratt High: Athletics: Softball

PHS Softball Takes Care of Scott City;

Winning Two, 9-0 and 6-3 at Green Sports Complex

by Dennis Gonzales & The Pratt Tribune

April 22, 2008

The PHS varsity softball team rebounded from doubleheader losses at Larned with a sweep of Scott City 9-0 and 6-3 at Green Sports Complex Friday.

PHS evens their Mid-State Activities Association record to 4-4 and improve to 6-4 overall.

A quartet of Lady Greenbacks powered the PHS offense in game one.

Lead-off hitter Laramie Inslee walked four times, stole three bases, and scored twice, setting the table.

Ashton Neumann was 3 for 3 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored.

Samantha Rojas had a 2 for 3 effort with a lone RBI.

Haley Pevoteaux tripled and produced two RBIs.

Pevoteaux, Rojas, and Neumann accounted for six of Pratt's 10 base hits.

Inslee led off game one with a walk and was brought home on Ashton Neumann's sacrifice fly.

Two innings later, Rebecca Slief, Heather Goertz, and Olivia Barber RBIs pushed the PHS lead to 4-0 after three.

The game was shortened due to the run rule.

PHS used a four-run fifth then added a lone run in the six, invoking the rule.

Brooke Blankenship tossed a four-hitter. She struck out five and did not hand out a walk.

"We were very focused in this game," said PHS head coach Mike Forshee. "Brooke got her first shut out of the year behind solid defense."

Timely hitting by Neumann and Hannah Page keyed a late Lady Greenback game-two rally.

Down 3-2 in the bottom of the six, Slief's infield single set up Neumann.

The sophomore drove in Slief to tie the score at 3-3.

With Neumann and Barber, who had reached base on an error, on base, Page drove the ball inside the Scott City first baseman and the bag. Forshee explains the rest.

"Hannah Page came through with a big two-run triple in the sixth inning to give us the lead," he said.

He added: "Ashton hit the ball well all day."

Blankenship sat down the Beavers 1-2-3, completing the comeback.

"We struggled early, but played very good defense," said Forshee. "We did what we had to do to win late."

Blankenship threw an eight hitter, striking out seven, and not absorbing a walk. One of Scott City's three runs was earned.

Slief, Barber, Neumann, and Page were each 2 for 3. Page and Neumann collected two RBIs apiece. Page tripled. Neumann, Barber, and Slief doubled.

"It is good to get back on track," said Forshee. "We just need to maintain that momentum."

PHS will look to extend their winning streak to four when they travel to Hutchinson Trinity Tuesday, April 22. They will then return home and welcome Wichita East to the Green Sports Complex Friday, April 25.