BY JIM MISUNAS
MANHATTAN – A sparkling pitching performance by Great Bend’s Paige Thexton kept the Panthers within striking distance, but McPherson escaped with a three-run seventh inning for a 3-0 softball victory Tuesday.
MCPHERSON 3, PANTHERS 0 – McPherson pitcher Sophia Herrera threw a no-hitter and struck out 10 batters. Great Bend’s Brooke McReynolds walked and was hit by a pitch as the Panthers’ lone baserunner.
Thexton pitched a gem for six brilliant innings. Five McPherson baserunners reached base in six innings. But a two-out seventh-inning error opened the door. Macy Rinker reached on an error and Olivia Cheatham and Brett Doile drew walks. Rinker and Cheatham scored on wild pitches and Doile scored on an error.
MANHATTAN 6, PANTHERS 0 – Manhattan pitcher Kierra Goos struck out 14 batters in a 6-0 first-game victory. Great Bend’s Sydney Unruh drilled a leadoff double and Melyne Fletchall delivered a fifth-inning single for the Panthers’ other base hit.
Manhattan’s Takara Kolerman scored on a third-inning error. Kierra Goos doubled home Paige Dupler for a 2-0 lead. Ellie Hacker’s fourth-inning double scored Logan Neitzel and C.J. Hawins scored on an error for a 4-0 lead. Kolterman’s double scored Caylee Begnoche and Hawins for a 6-0 lead after six innings.
Great Bend 000 000 0 – 0 2 4
Manhattan 002 202 x – 6 11 0
Turner and Bownes. Goos and Neitzel. W—Goos. L—Turner. 2B—M—Goos, Kolterman, Hacker
McPherson 000 000 3 – 3 2 0
Great Bend 000 000 0 – 0 0 3
Herrera and Myers. Thexton and Davis. W—Herrera, 1-1. L—Thexton, 0-1.
