Lady Birds Win Consolation

By Editor | September 5, 2024

By Mark Requet

The South Shelby Lady Birds opened the season on Saturday, August 31, 2024, at the Moberly Tournament. The Lady Birds lost the first two games against Moberly and Mark Twain, and winning against Palmyra.

South Shelby 3

Moberly 4

The Lady Birds squared off against the host team, the Moberly Lady Spartans, in the first game, losing 4-3 in six innings.

South Shelby took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Sofia Eleazarraraz singled, stole second, advanced to third on a goundout, and scored on an RBI single by Bella Cook. Eleazarraraz doubled to lead off the top of the third inning and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Lady Birds a 2-0 lead.

SS continued to add to its lead in the top of the fifth inning as Eleazarraraz led off the inning with a single and stole second base. Callie McWilliams followed with an RBI single.

The Lady Birds recorded the first out in the bottom of the inning, but it started to fall apart for the defense. Moberly took advantage of two errors in the inning. A three-run homerun gave Moberly a 4-3 lead heading to the top of the sixth inning, which would be the final score.

Eleazarraraz led the Lady Birds with three hits and runs scored, and two stolen bases.

McWilliams pitched five innings, allowing four runs on four hits, walking four and striking out three batters.

Mark Twain 8

South Shelby 7

In the second game, the Lady Birds faced the Mark Twain Tigers. Mark Twain won the game in five innings, 8-7.

The Lady Tigers took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Eleazarraraz doubled to lead off the bottom of the first inning, followed by an RBI single by McWilliams. McWilliams stole second base and Gracynn Lanpher was hit by a pitch. Both McWilliams and Lanpher would eventually score on wild pitches as South Shelby took a 3-1 lead.

Mark Twain tied the game with two runs in the top of the third inning and later took a 4-3 lead on an error.

South Shelby rallied in the bottom of the third inning as McWilliams tripled with one out, followed by an RBI single by Madison Wilt to tie the game. Cook followed with an RBI double, and later scored on an infield single by Jayda Lanpher. Gracynn Lanpher, who had singled earlier in the inning, scored on a wild pitch to give the Lady Birds a 7-4 lead after three innings.

Mark Twain scored a run in the top of the fourth inning and three runs in the top of the fifth inning to grab an 8-7 lead and the win.

Eleazarraraz, McWilliams, Wilt, and Cook each had two hits for the Lady Birds.

Kylie Million pitched two and one-thirds of an inning, allowing four runs, two earned runs, on two hits. She walked four and struck out four batters. McWilliams pitched two and two-thirds of an inning, allowing four runs, one earned run, on three hits. She walked three and struck out four batters.

South Shelby 17

Palmyra 15

The final game of the day for the Lady Birds resulted in a long nine inning game against Palmyra. SS won 17-15.

Palmyra took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. South Shelby’s Reese Maupin doubled to lead off the top of the second inning, followed by a single by Gracynn Lanpher. Maupin scored on a wild pitch, which was followed by Lanpher scoring on an error to cut the lead to 4-2.

Palmyra increased its lead to 7-2 in the bottom of the third.

South Shelby started to rally in the top of the fourth inning. Jayda Lanpher, Maicyn Ratliff and Million each singled to load the bases with nobody out. Eleazarraraz doubled to score to runs to cut the lead to 7-4. McWilliams followed with a double that drove in two more runs to bring the Lady Birds within one run. Two batters later, Cook was walked.

McWilliams scored on a wild pitch to tie the game, followed by an RBI single by Gracynn Lanpher to give the Lady Birds an 8-7 lead heading to the bottom of the fourth.

With the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning, Wilt singled to score two runs, followed by an RBI fielder’s choice by Cook to give the Lady Birds an 11-7 lead heading to the bottom of the inning.

Palmyra rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the inning as the time limit expired.

In extra innings, runners were placed on base. With Ratliff starting at second base in the top of the seventh inning, Million reached base on a throwing error down the rightfield line that allowed the Lady Birds to take a 12-11 lead. Million would then score on an RBI single by Eleazarraraz.

Palmyra would tie the game up in the bottom of the inning, sending the game into the eigth inning.

Two runners were placed on base and second and third with one out to start the inning. Gracynn Lanpher hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score a run. SS led 14-13.

Palmyra would once again tie the game in the bottom of the inning.

With the same scenario to start the top of the ninth inning, Jayda Lanpher tripled down the right field line to give the Lady Birds a 16-14 lead. Ratliff followed with an RBI groundout to push the lead to 17-14.

Palmyra scored one run in the bottom of the inning, but the Lady Birds held on for the 17-15 win.

Jayda Lanpher led the Lady Birds with four hits, including the game winning triple. Million finished with three hits. Eleazarraraz,

McWilliams, Maupin, and Ratliff each had two hits.

McWilliams started the game on the mound, but was put in leftfield in the first inning. She later came in to pitch in the sixth inning and finished out the game. McWilliams pitched three innings, allowing four runs on three hits, walking three and striking out six batters. Million pitched five innings, allowing eight runs, six earned runs, on seven hits, walking six and striking out three batters.

The Lady Birds, 1-2 overall, will travel to Paris on Wednesday, September 4, host Schuyler County on Thursday, September 5, and host Clopton on Tuesday, September 10. All games begin at 5 p.m.

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