Manchester senior Brooke Kennedy ended her high school softball career going 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles in the Lady Hounds’ 8-1 district tournament loss to South Webster. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
A record-breaking season for the Manchester Lady Greyhounds varsity softball team came to an abrupt end on May 18 as the Lady Hounds were on the road at South Webster to face the Lady Jeeps in Division IV district semi-final contest. It turned out to just plain not be a good day for the Manchester squad as the Lady Jeeps broke open a tight game with seven runs in their final two at-bats to hand the Lady Hounds an 8-1 defeat.
The loss was a tough one to swallow but did nothing to diminish the fine spring for the Lady Hounds where they posted 20 wins, finished a solid 9-4 in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play, and won their second consecutive Division IV sectional championship.
“Today seemed to follow the same pattern of all our losses,” said Manchester head coach John Kennedy. “South Webster just made a few ore plays and a few less mistakes. We only managed four hits and just couldn’t get that big hit when we needed it.”
“As for our season, we did fall short of our goals. We set goals to win the league and our first district title, and obviously we didn’t do either. Injuries didn’t kelp but we still felt like we should have achieved those goals. But it was still a good season with the 20 wins and the second consecutive sectional title, and the school only has five.”
The Lady Jeeps got the scoring started with a run off of Manchester starter Brooke Kennedy in the bottom of the first and the game remained a pitcher’s duel for the next three frames. The Greyhounds had an opportunity in the top half of the third when Abby Young led off with a double and one out later Hannah Hobbs hit a shot to center that was snagged on a nice running catch by the South Webster center fielder. Young was doubled off second to end the threat.
“If that ball Hannah hits gets down, it’s a tie game at 1 with Hannah at second or third and Brooke up to bat, and she had two of our fur hits,” said Coach Kennedy. “so we more than likely would have taken the lead there but instead that made a great play. You just have to tip the cap sometimes.”
South Webster got some breathing room in the bottom of the fifth when they scored three times to open up a 4-0 advantage. In the bottom of the sixth they put things out of reach with four unearned runs. The Lady Hounds got their only score of the game in the top of the seventh when Kennedy doubled and came home one out later on a Kameyl Carter ground out but that wasn’t nearly enough as the Manchester girls saw their season come to a disappointing close with the 8-1 loss.
The game was the final one for Lady Hounds’s seniors Brooke Kennedy, Gabby Brown, Yasmin Lucas, and Abby Young.
“I can’t say enough about our seniors,” commented Coach Kennedy. “They came into a losing program and turned it around and set school records for wins two years in a row and finished 53-26 in three seasons (minus the cancelled 2020 campaign). They’re a great group of girls who have laid the foundation for a successful program and they all have bright futures. I’m proud to have have been their coach.”
BOX SCORE
Manchester
000 000 1— 1
South Webster
100 034 x— 8
Manchester Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Hobbs 3-0-0-0, Kennedy 3-1-2-0, Applegate 3-0-0-0, Lucas 3-0-1-0, Carter 3-0-0-1, Brown 2-0-0-0, Campbell 3-0-0-0, Young 2-0-1-0, Roberts 2-0-0-0, Rideout 0-0-0-0, Team 24-1-4-1.
Extra-Base Hits: Kennedy 2B (2), Young 2B
Manchester Pitching: Kennedy (L) 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Applegate 1 IP, 2 H, 4 R. 0 Er, 1 BB, 1 K
