By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
An up and down 2026 season came to a close on May 21 for the Manchester Lady Greyhounds, playing in the Division VI district tournament semifinals. After a wild 12-11 win over Paint Valley in the quarterfinals, the Lady Hounds ventures to Unioto High School to face the Eastern Lady Eagles in round two, looking for another berth in the district finals, this time in their first season in Division VI.
After a season that saw them put together an early seven-game winning streak only to follow that up by dropping seven out of ten, the Lady Hounds and Coach Matthias Applegate really didn’t know what to expect in the district semis, they only knew that the #2 seeded Lady Eagles were certainly a worthy opponent. Eastern proved to be just that as they erased an early Manchester lead and then broke open a close game by scoring three times in the bottom of the sixth on their way to a 6-2 victory that propelled them to the district finals where they captured the first district crown in school history with a 4-3 win over Portsmouth West.
In the semifinal battle, the Lady Eagles grabbed the early advantage with a matchstick in the bottom of the first off of Manchester starter Ellianna Applegate, but the Lady Hounds responded in the top of the second to take their own lead. Kloey Carter began the frame by reaching on an error that found her at second base. Carter moved to third on a single to right by Jadelynn Conley then cane home on a wild pitch to tie the score. Courtesy runner Bayleigh Spires came across with the inning’s second run on an Addilyn Hunter single.
Just as quickly, Eastern tied the score with one in their half of the second and took the lead for good with one more in the bottom of the third that put them up 3-2. After that point, it became a pitcher’s duel with both Applegate and Eastern’s Leah Rader, who also helped herself at the plate, going 4 for 4 and driving in two runs.
After the Lady Hounds were retired in order in the top of the sixth, the Lady Eagles went to work in the bottom half and wrapped the game up by scoring three times, all coming after the first two hitters went down on ground outs to Manchester second baseman Hayven Newland, the final tow runs coming on a base hit by Rader. With one last chance to salvage their season, the Lady Hounds went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh as Eastern punched their ticket to the next round with the 6-2 triumph.
The Manchester offense only managed four hits, half of them from junior catcher Brislynn McClanahan, with one safety apiece from Addilyn Hunter and Jadelynn Conley. In the center circle, Applegate took the loss, going six inning,a llowing six hits and four earned runs as the Lady Hounds closed out 2026 with an overall mark of 15-11.
The loss was the final game for the team’s one one only senior, first baseman Mahayla Brown, meaning that in 2027 the Lady Hounds will return nearly their entire squad, which is definitely music to the ears of Coach Applegate and his staff.
Manchester
020 000 0 —2
Eastern
111 003 x —6
Manchester Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Hunter 4-0-1-1, Applegate 3-0-0-0, McClanahan 3-0-2-0, Brown 2-0-0-0, Newland 3-0-0-0, Carter 3-1-0-0, Conley 2-0-1-0, King 3-0-0-0, Johnson 3-0-0-0, Spires 0-1-0-0, Team 26-2-4-1
Extra-Base Hits: McClanahan 2B
Eastern Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Bevins 3-2-0-0, Bapst 3-1-0-0, Quillen 3-2-1-1, Rader 4-0-4-2, McCollister 3-0-1-0, Poorman 3-0-0-1, Jones 2-0-0-0, McCleese 2-1-0-0, Pollard 3-0-0-0, Team 26-6-6-4.
Manchester Pitching
Applegate (L) 6 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Eastern Pitching
Rader (W) 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
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