Lady Greenbacks fall to eventual state champs
By Melanie McGee
June 02, 2009
A very experienced Riverton Rams team showed the Pratt Lady
Greenbacks what the state softball tournament is all about Friday
evening, sending the Lady Greenbacks home with a 10-0 loss in the
quarterfinals.
Riverton went on to win the state tournament with a 3-0 win over
Ottawa. RHS pitcher Haleigh Sills did not allow a run in the
tournament, as the Rams blanked Rose Hill 4-0 in the
semifinals.
Senior Olivia Barber’s two singles were Pratt’s only hits against
Sills, who struck out seven Lady Greenbacks in the five-inning
game.
The Rams got on the board with three runs in the first, using a
leadoff triple from Cheslyn Mitchell to start things off.
A bunt single that scored Mitchell and an RBI single to left field
put Riverton up 2-0 before Pratt got the first out.
The Rams got their third run of the inning on Delaynee Ludwig’s
sacrifice fly that scored Sills’s courtesy runner from third.
Barber got a single with one out in the top of the second, but
couldn’t beat the throw to second on Hannah Melichar’s grounder to
the shortstop.
The Lady Greenbacks weren’t able to get anything else going in the
inning, stranding Melichar on base.
Riverton added three more runs in the bottom of the third, getting
a single from Whitney Shafer and another RBI single from Ludwig to
start a five-hit inning that put them up 6-0 despite leaving the
bases loaded when Sills grounded out to Rebecca Slief at third
base.
The Lady Greenbacks continued to struggle against Sills, and
Riverton pushed two runs across in the fourth and two more in the
fifth to end the game early.
“She really moved the ball around and kept us off-stride with that
changeup,” PHS coach Mike Forshee said of Sills. “We knew that was
coming, but until you face it, there’s not much you can do about
it. It’s tough to adjust to that in two or three at-bats.”
“Hats off to them and we wish them luck,” Forshee said of Riverton.
“They hit the ball, but that doesn’t take anything away from what
my girls have accomplished this year.”
PHS will need to replace three seniors — Barber, Laramie Inslee,
and Slief — but with a solid junior varsity squad, there are plenty
of underclassmen to fill those spots as the Lady Greenbacks will
look to get back to state in 2010.
“They’re going to be tough to replace,” Forshee said of the
seniors. “I can’t say enough about them. They’ve been with me all
four years and I’m proud of what they’ve done. I wish them the best
in their college careers.”
Still, Forshee is optimistic that with six starters coming back
from this year’s varsity, Pratt will challenge for another trip to
Salina.
“We’ve got some girls to fill in and that’s the way it should be,”
he said. “They’ll move in and keep working hard, and we’ll expect
to be back here next year.”
The Lady Greenbacks finished 15-7 on the season, while Riverton
wound up 23-3 after claiming the state championship.
