McPHERSON, Kan. – The McPherson Bullpups softball team used an onslaught of runs to start their 4A Regional semifinal game on Tuesday afternoon, taking an 8-0 lead on their way to a 14-4 win in five innings over Clay Center/Wakefield. In the championship game against AVCTL Division 3 foe Mulvane, they jumped out to an 5-0 lead in the first inning and went on to win 9-2, claiming the regional title and advancing to the 4A State Tournament for the third time in program history. The Bullpups are 28-0 on the season and will be the number one seed in the state tournament.
SEMIFINAL: W 14-4 vs. Clay Center/Wakefield
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | ||
| Clay Center: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | X | X | 4 | 4 | 0 | ||
| McPherson: | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1 | X | X | X | 14 | 14 | 0 |
Clay Center’s Candace Lippe retired the first two batters for McPherson to start the game, but the Bullpups started a two-out rally, scoring eight runs from there. An RBI single from Addie Herrera was followed up by a two-run home run from Rylie Whitfield to put McPherson up 3-0. Carmin Pavlovich and Ashlyn Schroeder each had RBI singles to put the Bullpups up 5-0 and Addison Chapman finished the first inning scoring with a three-run homer.
Ava Romero started the second inning scoring with an RBI single to extend the lead to 9-0. Kynedi Huggard hit a three-run bomb for the third homer of the game as the Bullpups went up 12-0. Chapman added another RBI single to round out the second inning scoring.
Spotted with a 13-0 lead, Addie Herrera was great on the mound for McPherson. She pitched all five innings in the win, giving up just five hits while striking out four Tiger batters. Her lone blemish came with a four-run top of the fourth for Clay Center, but after Pavlovich drove in another run in the bottom of the fourth, Herrera finished off the Tigers with a scoreless fifth. With the win, Herrera is now 11-0 on the season.
CHAMPIONSHIP: W 9-2 vs. Mulvane
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | ||
| Mulvane: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | ||
| McPherson: | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 2 |
Much like the semifinal game, McPherson jumped out to an early lead, but in a different way. The Bullpups scored five runs on just one hit, but they were walked seven times in the opening inning. Addie Herrera provided an RBI double for the only hit.
After a scoreless second inning, Carmin Pavlovich scored a run to extend the lead to 6-0. Addison Chapman pitched three straight scoreless innings, but gave up a run in the top of the 4th to Mulvane. McPherson responded in the bottom of the fourth as Ava Romero led off with a double and was driven in by Kynedi Huggard. Pavlovich added a solo homer for good measure, extending McPherson’s lead to 8-1 after four.
The Wildcats scored another run in the fifth to cut the lead to 8-2, but Huggard led off the sixth with a double and eventually scored to extend the lead to 9-2. After the first two batters reached in the top of the seventh for Mulvane, their cleanup hitter Layla Meier lined out to Romero and the runner at first for Mulvane, Regan Witt, was tagged out away from the bag and the runner at second, Bailey Hall was tagged out on the baseline for a championship game ending triple play.
Chapman got the win, giving up just two runs on six hits, striking out six batters in the process. She is now 13-0 on the season with the victory.
After winning the 4A West Regional #1, the Bullpups now move on to the 4A State Tournament. First round games are slated to take place on Thursday, May 29 at Salina South High School.
