BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com

SALINA — Great Bend pitcher Braelyn Turner threw a brilliant 2-hit shutout to spark a 2-0 quarterfinal victory over Goddard Eisenhower in Tuesday's 5A state softball tournament.

Both defenses played flawless softball as Turner (13-0, 2.63 ERA) and Eisenhower pitcher Seryn Bellick combined for one strikeout.

Turner's best pitch was a sharp-breaking curveball. The Panthers caught 16 outs in the air with four groundouts and one strikeout.

"We've got the top defense in 5A. I let my defense work," Turner said. "I'm happy to have Ava Kaiser, Camdyn Post and Katherine Mazouch playing the outfield. It was an amazing game."

Turner worked ahead in the count and permitted four baserunners.

"Braelyn threw strikes and we played defense behind Braelyn," said Great Bend softball coach Shawn Behr. "Our outfield did a good job defensively off our scouting report. We put the ball in play and kept pressure on them."

The Panthers were locked in a scoreless tie through 41/2 innings with 0-for-7 hitting with runners in scoring position.

Panther standout Kya Behr broke through with a first pitch fifth-inning RBI single that scored Camdyn Post after a double for a 1-0 lead.

In the sixth inning, super-sub Rydlie Swanson delivered a clutch pinch-hit at-bat to load the bases, but pinch runner Mikayla Minton was thrown out at home after an dropped throw.

Baze Hogan dropped a bloop single to right field that scored Denver Ringo with a valuable insurance run.

"We did enough to bring two runs across," Behr said. "We our lineup, we knew somebody would come through. Two runs were enough. Eisenhower's pitcher threw a good game and worked us inside."

The Panthers (26-1) will play the St. Thomas Aquinas/Pittsburg winner at 1 p.m. Thursday at Wichita State.

Goddard Eisenhower 000 000 0 — 0 2 0

Great Bend 000 001 x — 2 10 0

Bellick and Tarpley. Turner and Koelsch. W—Turner, 13-0. L—Bellick, 9-7. 2B—GB—Koelsch 2, Post; GE—Mercer.

5A STATE WICHITA STATE (5-28)

SEMIFINALS—Great Bend (26-1) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (23-3)/Pittsburg (22-4) winner, 1 p.m.; Basehor-Linwood (26-2) vs. Wichita Carroll (25-3)/Spring Hill (23-5), winner, 5 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS—Great Bend 2, Goddard Eisenhower 0; St. Thomas Aquinas (23-3) vs. Pittsburg (22-4); Basehor-Linwood 7, Maize South 6; Wichita Carroll (25-3) vs. Spring Hill (23-5)