Knights Stun Tigers With Four 7th Inning Runs

By Ryan Stonebraker
Sports Editor
  LOWDEN — For the second straight season the North Cedar Knight softball team has won a first round Regional game against Tipton. This time, the Knights used an exciting win in comeback fashion to advance. The Knights beat the Tigers 5-4 to advance to play Jesup in the next round of postseason play. North Cedar used a 4-run seventh inning to erase a 4-1 Tiger lead to capture the win.

  Tipton led 2-0 after the second inning. An RBI single in the first by Laken Hermiston and another run scored on a fielder’s choice hit by Hailey Stewart to put the score at 2-0 Tipton after two innings.

  North Cedar scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth to cut Tipton’s lead in half, 2-1, after four innings. That score would stay the same until Tipton scored twice in the top of the seventh to take a 4-1 lead. North Cedar would not quit, fighting back with six hits and four runs in the bottom of the inning to get the win. RBI hits from a two-run triple by Alyssa Barnhart to set the score at 4-3. Later in the inning a 2-run double by Kayla Syring scored Barnhart with the tying run and Katie Thompson with the winning run.

  Alyssa Barnhart was the winning pitcher after working seven innings. She struck out four, walked four and gave up nine hits.

  North Cedar had 14 hits in the game and had four players with multi-hit games. Barnhart was 3-for-4 with a triple and run scored to lead North Cedar. Kayla Syring, Carly Meier and Taylor Tenley each had two hits. Syring, Katie Thompson and Kendall Smith each had RBI’s and Emma Boelyn reached base via a walk.

  Morgan Wendel took the loss after working seven innings and striking out four Knight batters. Allie Ryan was 3-for-4 with a walk and run scored to lead Tipton. Laken Hermiston was 2-for-4 with RBI while Hailey Stewart, Bryanna Simmermaker, Grace Nichols and Kamryn Chapman each had hits.

Knights Bow Out In 2A Quarterfinals
  JESUP — The North Cedar Knight softball season came to an end on Tuesday, July 3 in a class 2A regional quarterfinal in Jesup. The Knights played at Jesup the night after a comeback win over Tipton at home. The Knights couldn’t repeat their first round result, falling to Jesup 13-1 in four innings. The Knights end the season 5-22.

  Jesup scored all 13 runs in the first four innings. The J-Hawks scored twice in the first and put up 4-run innings in the bottom of the second and third innings to take a 10-0 lead.

  North Cedar struggled to get hits and baserunners early. The Knights were retired in order in each of the first three innings. Alyssa Barnhart broke up a 10-up, 10-down run to start the game with a one-out single in the top of the fourth inning. Seh advanced to second on an error and to third base of a Kayla Syring ground out. Barnhart would score on a RBI single by Katelyn Jackson.

  Jesup closed the game in the bottom of the fourth, plating three runs to get the score to 13-1.

  Jenna Syring took the loss after working 3 2/3 innings. She walked three and gave up 13 runs on 15 hits. Singles by Alyssa Barnhart and Katelyn Jackson were the only hits for North Cedar. Jackson drove in the only North Cedar run.