Plainswomen Get One Against Broncbusters

The Plainswomen softballers would travel to Garden City, KS for a few games against the Broncbusters.  The Busters have been proven to be a good program, so the Plainswomen were anxious for the competition they were about to face.  Being there would be four games, the ladies would have to prepare for the long haul and be ready to play consistently through two days.

In the first game of the first day, the Plainswomen were a little laggy from the bus ride and could not get their bats going.  The game would end after NJC would succumb to the run rule and lose to the Busters 10-0.  Northeastern did have some positives to build off with Makaila Chadwick having two hits, while Riley Johnson and Annaliese Cordova each having one hit.  Their second game would be much better.  The Plainswomen would be able to get in the groove early by scoring two runs in the top of one.  Their lead would be cut in half as the Busters would get one back on them, and then tie it in the bottom of two with another run.  Northeastern would go on a cold streak, and GCCC would get two runs in the third, and four in the fourth, which would extend the lead to 8-2.  With time running out, the Plainswomen needed to get hot; and get hot they did.  In the top of six, NJC would put up five runs to bring the game within one of Garden City.  They would then do well defensively and hold GCCC scoreless in the bottom of six.  The top of seven was all the Plainswomen would have to be able to get the game won.  Although they did well in the inning before, NJC could not repeat the performance wand would fall 8-7.

The sun would come up for another day of softball for the Plainswomen to tackle.  The first game of the second day would be their day.  The Plainswomen would start scoreless in the first, but then take the lead in the second by tacking on four runs.  In the bottom of two however, the Plainswomen would allow the Busters to get three runs of their own.  Not panicking, NJC would add one more in the top of three, and then another two in the top of five.  Each of those innings, the ladies did their job defensively and held them scoreless after the second inning until the end of the game.  In the final inning, the Plainswomen would tack on another three to finish their scoring and win the game 10-3.  Getting that game was a big momentum boost after their loss the day before, so they were looking to carry it into their next game. 

Their final game of the series would be a battle that would go into extra innings.  The game would start with the Busters taking the initial 1-0 lead after the first, but the Plainswomen would respond in a huge way.  In the top of two, NJC would put up five runs to lead 5-1, and then do their magic and hold the Busters in the bottom of two.  In the third, GCCC would get one back, but in the top of four, Northeastern would get that one back to keep their lead to four runs by leading 6-2.  In the bottom of four however, Garden City would bring the score within one as they would score three runs.  In the sixth inning, both teams would get one, which would make it come down to the final inning.  In the seventh, the Plainswomen would help themselves out by adding one more to their score to now lead by two.  But in a late comeback in the seventh, the Busters would make their run, and tie it up, sending it to extra innings.  In the eighth, the Plainswomen would give themselves a chance by getting a run in to lead 9-8; all they had to do was play solid defense.  The ladies would play well, but the Busters would just hit slightly better and would score two, which would win the game 10-9.

Although the Plainswomen would only get one win in the series, they did play really well and were only edged out in the final innings of two other games.  The ladies learned a lot more from playing a close game with the Busters than they would have in a blowout.  The Plainswomen will be back playing again, this time for Region IX standings as they travel to Scottsbluff, NE to play against the Cougars.