NEOSHO, Mo. — Second-seeded College Heights (with McAuley) opened up district play against seventh-seeded Southwest the best way possible—hanging crooked numbers up on the scoreboard inning after inning while starting pitcher Maddy Colin tossed a four-inning perfect game in the circle.
The Cougars scored three times in the first, twice in the second and plated six runs in the third before finishing off the 15-0 victory in four innings over the Trojans with four more runs touching home in the fourth frame in Class 2 District 6 action at the Neosho Athletic Complex.
“I thought we played great offensively,” College Heights coach Mike Howard said. “We hit the ball really well and had really good base running. After how we played over the weekend, that was definitely a great confidence boost moving forward.”
College Heights improves to 19-4, setting a new program for wins in a season in the progress.
IN THE CIRCLE
Colin was electric from the start, striking out the first six batters she faced before ultimately punching out 10 of the 12 batters she faced without allowing a base runner in four innings en route to the complete-game win.
“She is a workhorse and lives for this moment,” Howard said about his sophomore hurler. “When the game is big and the bright lights are on, that is when she is at her best. She really proved that tonight after not throwing all week long because we couldn’t get outside because of the weather.”
Alli Fosse took the loss after allowing 10 runs on 10 hits, two walks and a strikeout in 1 2/3 innings. Kaleigh Tull allowed five runs, two earned, on three hits, two walks and a strikeout in 1 2/3 relief inning.
GAME ACTION
College Heights pushed across three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take control of the district contest in the early onset. Addie Lawrence picked up an RBI on an infield single that scored Jayli Johnson, who walked to lead off the inning before stealing second and moving to third on a groundout. Lawrence eventually came around to score on a wild pitch before Colin, who reached on a single, scored on an RBI groundout from Aaliyah Perez to make the score 3-0.
“Once it is district time, you never know what is going to happen,” Howard said. “Weird things happen. If we let them hang around later in the game, all of the pressure is on us. We wanted to really jump out on them at the start and I thought our girls had a good game plan in the box. We took a good approach and hit the ball well to get that early lead.”
Two more runs came across the plate in the second inning to give the Cougars a five-run advantage. The first run touched the plate on a throwing error by Southwest before Colin doubled to deep center field to plate Lawrence for a 5-0 lead.
College Heights blew the doors off the hinges in the third inning, plating six runs to build an insurmountable lead. The first run came home when Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. Kloee Williamson followed with an opposite-field RBI single to make the score 7-0. Lawrence singled home two runs in the next at-bat before Williams and Lawrence later came home to score on the same wild pitch to push the lead to 11-0.
“It shows that we weren’t content,” Howard said of the six-run third inning. “We were prepared for this game and went up there with a good approach and a mindset of doing whatever we can to get runs across. It gives us more confidence moving forward.”
Johnson added an RBI single with runners at the corners and one out in the fourth before Williamson tripled home two runs on a line drive to center field to push the lead to 14-0. Lawrence reached on an error to allow the 15th run of the game to score and end the game.
IN THE BOX
Lawrence had three hits, four RBI and scored three times, while Colin, who doubled, had three hits, drove in one and scored once. Williamson, who tripled, and Johnson had two hits each. Williamson drove in three and scored three times, while Johnson scored three runs and picked up two RBI. Lauren Ukena, Avery Eminger and Kallie Spencer all had hits for CHC.
