WEBB CITY, Mo. — In a game that featured plenty of offense, Webb City earned a 10-8 victory over Branson on Thursday in Central Ozark Conference softball action at Chuck Barnes Field.
The two teams combined for 28 hits, 18 runs and 10 errors.
Snapping a three-game skid, Webb City improved to 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the COC. Branson fell to 5-6 and 1-3 in the conference.
Webb City had 16 hits in the game. Dawsyn Decker went 3-for-4 at the plate, while Morgan Brannon, Peyton Hawkins, Hannah Wells, Kaylyn Gilbert and Shelby Gardner all had two hits apiece.
Hawkins drove in three runs, while Wells had two RBI.
Laney Taylor started in the circle and allowed three earned runs on nine hits in four innings. Hawkins pitched the final three innings and did not allow an earned run.
Branson’s Peyton Bonsey took the loss after giving up 10 runs, five earned, on 16 hits. The Pirates had six errors, while the Cardinals committed four.
Langley Miller and Bonsey had three hits apiece for the Pirates.
Webb City stranded 10 runners, while Branson left seven on.
The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on Gilbert’s RBI single up the middle.
Webb City extended its lead by plating four runs in the second. Ripley Shanks and Decker both singled to lead off the inning. Shanks scored from third on a double steal and Decker came home on a Branson error.
Hawkins and Wells both delivered run-scoring ground outs to make it 5-0 before Jocelyn McQueen’s two-run single got the Pirates on the board in the third.
The Cardinals pushed across two runs in the fourth.
Gardner singled and later scored after a bunt and a Branson error. Hawkins singled and later came home when Wells smacked an RBI single through the left side, giving the hosts a 7-2 advantage.
The Pirates scored three runs in the fifth, two on a Bonsey single, to cut their deficit to 7-5.
The Cardinals responded with three runs in the bottom half. Hawkins lined a two-run single into left and later scored on an error for a five-run cushion.
Taking advantage of a pair of Webb City errors, Branson plated three runs in the sixth.
Webb City will compete at the Park Hill Tournament this weekend.
