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Fort Scott sweeps under-manned Parsons
FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- A severely under-manned Parsons team was only able to bring eight players here Friday for a make-up Southeast Kansas League doubleheader against Fort Scott High. But the Tigers took just under two hours to complete a 15-0, 15-0 sweep at Ellis Park, used because Don Hewett Field couldn't be made ready in time.
"They have some athletes (in Parsons) but they're just not coming out for softball," Fort Scott head coach Alvin Metcalf said. "They had some kids sick. One was at a funeral. I gave credit to the young lady who got sick on the field, came back. That's a 'want-to'."
Give credit to Parsons. It could have said it wasn't going to come and probably ended up forfeiting the games.
This doubleheader was played mostly to get both teams closer to eligibility for seeding in their upcoming Kansas Class 4A Regionals. Kansas teams must have played 10 games when seeding is determined or their winning percentage is halved prior to filling out the bracket (Example: an 8-8 team will be seeded as if it had a winning percentage of .250).
For the Tigers, these were games nine and 10 of a season plagued by rainouts. Now in order to get as many games as they can under their belt before Regionals come up, they'll end up playing five doubleheaders in seven days starting with these games and ending next Thursday at Chanute.
If you think that's tough, the team the Tigers were scheduled to play Saturday in another league make-up, Independence, will be playing three games in one day. First the Bulldogs played a postponed game against Coffeyville at 11 a.m. Then at 2 p.m., they played their home doubleheader against Fort Scott.
In a strange doubleheader played at home but not on their home field, the Tigers actually had more runs in each game than at-bats (for the day, 30 runs in 20 at-bats with 18 walks and four batters hit by pitches). Crystal Colvin was actually hit by consecutive pitches in the first inning of the opener. She was denied first base the first time because she didn't make an attempt to get out of the way. But she was grazed on the seat of her shorts on the next pitch and was awarded first base.
Parsons chose to play without a second baseman and had to take an automatic out in the ninth spot in the batting order. They came close to forfeiting the second game when their first baseman experienced some queasiness on the field. But she took a little time to recover and was able to finish the game.
Three Tigers in each game didn't have an official at-bat even though they came up to the plate twice. Only one Viking got a second at-bat in the first game and only two got two at-bats in the second game.
Fort Scott moved into second place in the SEK at 6-2 and stand at 7-3 overall. Parsons fell to 0-7, 0-9. Pittsburg, to which the Tigers have suffered all three of their losses, is in first place in the SEK at 7-1.
Afton Gray, 4-2, was the Tigers' winning pitcher in game one. She allowed only one hit while striking out three. She was also two for two at the plate, driving in two runs and scoring three. She stole three bases.
Erin Floyd had one of the other two hits. She scored twice as did Hannah Hawkins, Amanda Metcalf and Kayleigh Armstrong. Metcalf's inside-the-park home run, which also scored Hawkins, caused the 15-after-three version of run rule to come into effect.
Erica Davis, 2-0 on the varsity level with both wins against Parsons, allowed two hits and struck out five in the second game. She hasn't allowed a run in either of her varsity appearances.
The Tigers needed only five hits to deliver their runs. Floyd, Gray, Hawkins, Crystal Colvin and Joce Allen had them. Floyd and Hawkins' hits were doubles while Allen's was a triple. Floyd scored three times. Colvin, Gray, Hawkins, Katelyn Simpson and Tab Colvin each scored twice. Hawkins and Simpson each stole two bases.
In addition to these games and Saturday's pair at Indy, the Tigers will also host Iola Monday and Columbus Wednesday. Both of these league doubleheaders will be played at Don Hewett Field starting at 4:30.
A trip to Chanute wraps up the regular season. That league twinbill will also begin at 4:30. The Regional tournament will be at Louisburg beginning May 14.