Perry secures first state berth in 4A softball
By Brent Maycock The Capital-Journal
May 14, 2008
BASEHOR — The sting of losing to Holton in last year's Class 4A softball regional sat with Perry-Lecompton for a long time.
A year in fact.
The elation of avenging that loss Tuesday in Basehor-Linwood may just last even longer for the Kaws. Perry's 6-0 victory came in the regional championship game and earned the program its first state-tournament berth.
"Oh, this is so amazing," said Perry pitcher Courtney Kasson, who was overpowering in both games. "Coming in and getting to play both Basehor and Holton, we were ready and were definitely wanting to get some revenge."
Perry got it, thanks to an efficient offense and Kasson's strong pitching performance.
First Kasson. After giving up just four hits in a 3-2 semifinal win against Basehor-Linwood — which had handed the Kaws one of their two regular-season losses — Kasson shut down a Holton offense that had pounded out 10 hits in its 7-6 semifinal victory against Royal Valley.
Kasson struck out seven and allowed just three hits, working four 1-2-3 innings.
She got all the support she needed in the first when Perry strung together three straight singles by Emily Huerter, Kasson and LeeAnne Pringle. Huerter scored the first run on a wild pitch before Pringle delivered the first of her two RBI singles in the game.
Chelsea Williams added an RBI single in the second and Pringle added her other in the fifth. Perry tacked on two runs in the sixth.
"They're going to put a lot of pressure on people at state, like they did to us," Holton coach John Deitrich said. "They're fast and very good up the center of the diamond."
Perry finished with eight hits off Holton starter Elizabeth Dunn and improved to 20-2.
"When Dunn pitched against us last year, we couldn't hit her at all," Perry coach Jill Larson-Bradney said. "We worked hard (in the offseason) on fundamentals and I've always stressed that. I guess we bought into it finally.
"All year, it's been a total team effort."
Both teams used a little drama to survive their semifinal games.
Shelby Erickson's two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth lifted Perry to a 3-2 win against host Basehor. The Kaws trailed 2-0 entering the frame but Kasson's RBI double got them on the board and then Erickson belted the game winner an out later.
Holton, meanwhile, scored in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings and then beat Royal Valley 7-6 in the ninth on Jen Cordell's RBI single. Elizabeth Dunn drove in six runs for the Wildcats, including a first-inning grand slam.
But none were bigger than in the bottom of the seventh. With the bases loaded and two outs, Dunn hit a slow roller to third.
Instead of getting Dunn at first, Panther third baseman Patricia McCollum came home, but not in time to get Aleesa Suarez, who scored the tying run.
Royal Valley had rallied for a 6-5 lead with three in the sixth on Tiffany Burget's two-run double to deep center and Courtney Barger's tiebreaking RBI single.
CHAMPIONSHIP
PERRY-LECOMPTON 6, HOLTON 0
Holton 000 000 0 — 0 3 2
Perry-Lecompton 210 012 x — 6 8 2
Dunn and McManigal. Kasson and Pringle. WP—Kasson. LP—Dunn.
SEMIFINALS
PERRY-LECOMPTON 3, BASHOR-LINWOOD 2
Basehor-Linwood 000 110 0 — 2 4 1
Perry-Lecompton 000 003 x — 3 3 2
Pierce and Schierbaum. Kasson and Pringle. WP—Kasson. LP—Pierce. 2B—PL: Kasson. 3B—BL: Patton. HR—PL: Erickson.
This article originally appeared in the Topeka Capital Journal and is reprinted with their permission.
http://cjonline.com/stories/051408/pre_278779582.shtml
