Vikings eliminated by Panthers in first round
In the top of the third inning of Wednesday's Class 2A - Region 3 Softball Game, with the game tied at 1 between the AHSTW Vikings and the Logan-Magnolia Panthers, Panther eighth-grader Kaitlyn Evans launched a 2-run home run to break the tie, putting her team ahead 3-1, and leading to a 9-1 victory stamping their ticket to the next round of Regionals, eliminating the Vikings and ending their season.
"We had one heck of a season," said Senior Viking Graycen Partlow. "At the beginning of the season things didn't look too bright. We weren't really clicking as a team, but towards the end there, once we found our stride, I told the girls this was one of the best teams I've ever played on, and I've played for a lot of teams. It was a special season."
Viking eighth-grader Etta Partlow took the circle to start the night for her team and opened the game with a strikeout of Junior Panther Haedyn Hall. Partlow got out of the inning quickly when Sophomore Campbell Chase grounded out to Viking second baseman Kendra Hansen.
In the bottom of the first, the Viking offense was able to load the bases courtesy of walks from Bella Lamp and Halle Goodman, but Junior Loralei Wahling popped up to end the inning keeping the game scoreless.
In the top of the second, Evans was in a rundown between third base and home plate but she scored giving her team a 1-0 lead. However, when the Vikings offense came to bat in the bottom half of the inning, Graycen Partlow connected at the plate for an RBI single, scoring Kendra Hansen, tying the game at 1.
"I just went up there and I knew she [Chase] was going to throw me a changeup and was just looking to hit the ball and get my teammates in," Partlow said. "When I connected, I was kind of scared because I thought the third baseman was going to catch it, but when I saw it go over her glove, that just got me going and put Kendra in."
Evans broke the tie instantly when the Panther offense returned to bat in the top of the third giving her team a 3-1 lead. Following Evans' home run, both teams went quiet on offense until the top of the seventh.
The Panther offense busted the game wide open starting with a solo home run off the bat of Freshman Graycn Stone, followed by an RBI single from Junior Madeline Maguire, and later a 2-run single from Senior Marki Bertelsen that went off Partlow's glove at shortstop and into centerfield scoring another two runs. Stone added an RBI single following Bertelsen's at bat making it a 9-1 game. The inning finally came to an end when eighth-grader Teagan Carritt struck out.
"They just hit the ball and really there's nothing you can do when they hit in the gaps every time," Partlow said. "That inning they were just hitting the crap out of the ball, so props to them."
In the bottom of the seventh, the inning got off to a promising start when eighth-grader Kennedy Wyman got a base hit, but the Viking offense got shut down after that with Goodman striking out for the final out ending their season.
The Vikings finished their season with an overall record of 16-9, including an 8-game winning streak to close out the regular season. Coming into Regional Play, offensively, Clara Pace led the way with 27 hits and 15 runs batted in with a batting average of .346. In pitching, Etta Partlow struck out 109 batters in 95 innings with a 1.62 earned run average
Graycen Partlow will not be returning due to graduating, but her softball days are not yet behind her, as she’s going to Kansas Wesleyan to continue her softball journey.
"The biggest lesson I've learned through high school softball is mental toughness," Partlow said. "As a little freshman starting varsity, I had to learn quickly to be mentally tough. High school softball is a lot of pressure and it's hard to play. I had to learn at a young age how to be a leader."