For the Great Bend High School softball team, the dream of competing at the Class 5A State Tournament ended in a regional championship.
The Lady Panthers had a pair of games against two familiar Western Athletic Conference teams have two drastically different outcomes.
Great Bend defeated Liberal 15-0 in four innings in a semifinal game. Hays defeated Goddard Eisenhower 9-4 in the other semifinal game.
Hays came out of a close regional championship game with the title, 3-0.
“I felt like they were able to put together some hits, and get some things to fall and move some runners,” GBHS head coach Carrie Minton said. “Unfortunately, all of our big hits happen to be within a step or two of them.
“Our girls came out and played hard. We executed, but things just didn’t go our way.”
Against Hays, Great Bend, which closes the season at 17-5, could not string enough hits together to move baserunners.
The Lady Panthers had six runners on base in seven innings, but couldn’t get them across the plate.
“She did a good job keeping us off balance,” Minton said of Hays pitcher Hannah Hearld. “I have to give her credit.”
The game was scoreless until the top of the sixth.
Nicole Dinkel led the inning off with a single for Hays, and Albany Schaffer was able to plate the runner to break the scoreless tie.
In the top of the seventh, an error with two outs kept the inning alive, allowing Hays to rattle off a pair of RBI singles to make it 3-0.
Great Bend was unable to rally in the seventh.
Both games saw great pitching performances for the Lady Panthers.
Hunter Middleton allowed three runs on five hits and four walks. She had four strikeouts.
Braylin Bretz, who had a run-rule shortened perfect outing against Liberal in the regular season, continued that dominance in the postseason.
Bretz had five strikeouts and had no baserunners in the win.
“Hunter did a great job,” Minton said. “Braylin, in the first game, threw a perfect game, so our pitchers came out today and worked extremely hard and put us in a position where, on any other day, we’d ask to be at. It’s unfortunate that we just couldn’t get some runners across the plate.”
Great Bend added runs in each of the four innings, including a six-run third inning, to blow away Liberal.
Nine Great Bend batters produced hits and eight had at least one RBI.
Dakota Sanders, McKenna Mauler and Regan Unruh each had two RBIs.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
Class 5A Regional Tournament

Wednesday

At Great Bend
Sports Complex

Semifinal

Great Bend 15, Liberal 0
Lib    000   0  —     0     0    3
GB    436   2  —    15    15    0
     Brittany Granger & Sarah Arriago. Braylin Bretz & Dakota Sanders. 2B — Great Bend (Dakota Sanders). 3B — Great Bend (Kaylie Doll).

Championship game

Hays 3, Great Bend 0
Hays    000   001   2  —    3    5    1
GBHS    000   000   0  —    0    5    1
     Hannah Hearld & Haley Wells. Hunter Middleton & Hannah Mauler. 2B — Great Bend (Elizabeth Barber).