Lady Jays Finish as District Runner-Ups
Launch the media gallery 1 playerLady Jays Finish as District Runner-Ups
by Taylor Oestreich
The Lady Jays’ softball team came out in 2nd place after the district softball tournament, which began Thursday, October 6, and concluded Saturday, October 8. The Lady Jays started with a loss to Boone Central/Newman Grove, but played their way back through the bracket to defeat O’Neill, Boone Central/Newman Grove, and Highway 91. They fell to Guardian Angels CC in the championship game to just miss a chance at the state tournament.
Pierce’s first district game came against the BCNG Cardinals. Hailey Race brought in the first run of the day for either team in the bottom of the first. Jordyn Bullock also scored in the inning after tagging up on a sac fly from Kaylee Dvorak. Neither team scored again until the fourth inning when Boone Central tied the game up at 2-2. The Cardinals jumped in front in the top of the fifth, but the Lady Jays answered right back with a Bullock homerun to centerfield. The score through five innings was Pierce 4 to Boone Central 3. The Lady Jays gave up 2 runs in the sixth and the Cardinals regained the lead 4-5. Pierce was unable to score again in the game, and the final score was 4-5 with the Cardinals ahead.
Annie Johnson led the team in hits against the Cardinals with 2, and Bullock led the team with 2 RBI’s and a homerun. Overall the team finished with 6 hits and 1 error.
Pierce then faced off against the O’Neill Eagles. The game was supposed to be played on Thursday but was pushed back to Friday and played in West Point due to the weather and resulting field conditions. Annie Johnson got the Lady Jays off to a good start with a leadoff triple in the first. Brianna Aguilera’s single then brought Johnson home. Neither team scored again until the third inning when Aguilera brought in Jordyn Bullock on a groundout to the pitcher. Pierce gave up their first run in the game in the third inning. After three innings, the score was Pierce 2, O’Neill 1. In the bottom of the fourth, the Eagles tied the game up at 2 apiece. The Lady Jays scored 2 runs in the fifth inning on an illegal pitch by the Eagles and a single to centerfield from Kaylee Dvorak. O’Neill tried answering back, but they were only able to score in the fifth. The tight game was no problem for Race as she homered to center field and brought in three runs for the Lady Jays. Pierce was able to hold on to the lead despite allowing the Eagle to score three runs in the sixth inning. Neither team scored in the seventh, and at the conclusion of the game, Pierce was ahead 7-6.
Pierce ended the game against the Eagles with 11 hits and 2 errors. Race was the team leader in hits with 3 and RBI’s with 3. Race also had a homerun in the game.
The next game for Pierce was a rematch with BCNG on Saturday back in Pierce. The Lady Jays struck first as Annie Johnson was able to score the game’s first run on an error. The next run of the game was also scored by the Lady Jays when Race scored on another error by BCNG. Pierce allowed the Cardinals to get back in the game when they let up 2 runs in the fourth inning. Each team had 2 runs after the fourth inning. Pierce scored their third run of the game on an error. The Lady Jays played stellar defense for the entire game, and Pierce won by a final score of 3-2.
The Lady Jays finished the game with 2 hits and 3 errors. Annie Johnson and Kaylee Dvorak were the team's leading batters with a hit each.
Pierce played Highway 91 next, and the Lady Jays played a great game. Neither team scored until the third inning when Aguilera tripled to centerfield. Dvorak also drove in a run during the inning on a sac fly to right field. Highway 91 was able to score a run in the third on an error. Race was able to score in the fifth on a wild pitch. Johnson had a homerun in the sixth inning that scored 2 more runs for the Lady Jays. The score after six innings was Pierce 5, Highway 91 1. Pierce didn’t let up in the seventh as Courtney Yawn and Kiley Bierman brought in runners. The game’s final score was 8-1 with the Lady Jays on top.
The Lady Jays had 9 hits in the game and only a single error. Bierman led the team in hits with 3, and Annie Johnson and Bierman tied for the team lead in RBI’s with 2 each. Annie Johnson had a homerun in the game as well.
Pierce’s last game of districts came in the championship game against the Guardian Angels Central Catholic Bluejays. The Lady Jays started the games slow and found themselves down 0-5 after five innings. Hailey Race drove in the team’s only run of the game in the sixth inning on a double to centerfield. The final score of the game was 1-9 with the Lady Jays trailing the Bluejays.
Pierce finished the GACC game with 3 hits and 2 errors. The Lady Jays’ leading batter was Race with 1 hit and 1 RBI.
Head coach Cady Reinke said, “I’m really proud of how the girls played, and I’m also proud of how the girls were so accepting of me and Mr. Patrick as their coaches.”
Pierce ended the season as district runner-ups and had a final record of 13-17.
