MCPHERSON — Great Bend High School head softball coach Carrie Minton said that on Thursday her team saw the best pitching they have seen all year long.
The result was a pair of losses at a triangular in McPherson. The Lady Panthers, who drop to 15-3 overall, fell 6-3 to host McPherson, and 5-1 to Wichita Campus.
“(Kyndel Shelburn) had great speed,” Minton said of Campus’ pitcher. “She had good movement on her fastball. She started the game with nine straight strikeouts. She went through the order and finished with 15 strikeouts.
“The girls adjusted to her riseball a little bit, and we scored one run.”
In the bottom of the fourth inning down 1-0 after Campus scored in the first, Stephanie Morrison struck a double. She advanced to third base after the Colts overthrew the pitcher.
With Kaylie Doll at the plate, Campus had a past ball that allowed Morrison to rush home to tie the game at one run apiece.
Campus scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and three more runs in the seventh to put the game away.
“We just didn’t execute things against Campus,” Minton said. “I’m not taking anything away from them, though. They are a good team with a lot of experience. They hit the ball well and made plays when they needed plays.”

GAME 1
McPherson 6,
Great Bend 3
After three scoreless innings for both the Lady Panthers and the Lady Bullpups, Great Bend scored two runs in the top of the fourth.
Doll led with a single, and McKenna Mauler and Elizabeth Barber each hit a double with Barber driving in Doll, who also scored a run in the sixth.
Hannah Mauler laid down a sacrifice bunt to score McKenna Mauler.
McPherson scored two runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to take a 6-3 lead.
“We played OK,” Minton said. “We took the lead in the fourth. There were times when we had runners on and we couldn’t get things going. We weren’t quite where we needed to be focus-wise.”
Great Bend closes its regular season with a doubleheader at Hutchinson on Thursday starting at 4 p.m.
The postseason begins with a Class 5A regional tournament involving Goddard-Eisenhower, Hays, Liberal, Valley Center, Goddard and Wichita West.

                                                               — Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL
McPherson triangular

At McPherson

Thursday

GAME 1
McPherson 6, Great Bend 3
              123  456  7        R     H    E
GBHS    000  201  0  —    3     9    0
MHS      000  222  x  —    6    10   1   
     Hunter Middleton & Hannah Mauler; Morgan Swisher & Jasmine Wann. W — Swisher; L — Middleton (8-2). 2B — McPherson: Madison Hoffman; Great Bend: McKenna Mauler, Elizabeth Barber.

GAME 2
Wichita Campus 5, Great Bend 1
              123  456  7          R     H    E
WCHS    100  001  3  —    5    10    1   
GBHS     000  100  0  —    1     4    1
     Braylin Bretz & Dakota Sanders; Kyndel Shelburn & Adnrea Gerstenkorn. W — Shelburn; L — Bretz (7-1). 2B — Campus: Krisha Kackley; Great Bend: Stephanie Morrison. 3B — Campus: Katlyn Bond, Shelburn.