Riverton, Raiders wait to end title game

May 14, 2008 01:02 am

— By Bill McMillen
sports@joplinglobe.com
FRONTENAC, Kan. — A long, tense day got longer and more tense for the Frontenac and Riverton high school softball teams Tuesday.
A tornado warning interrupted the Raiders and Rams in their Class 3A softball regional championship game, pushing the final back to Thursday. The washout came after both Riverton and Frontenac needed eight innings to win their semifinal contests.
The championship game, carrying with it a berth in the state tournament, was scoreless after two complete innings when the storm sirens sounded at 7:45 p.m., sending everyone scrambling for shelter.
Most took refuge at the Frontenac Junior-Senior High School building about half a mile away. Players, parents, officials and fans all huddled near a television set to watch coverage of the approaching storm.
As the heart of the storm passed nearby, the refugees were ushered to the safety of the school’s storm shelters while heavy rain pounded the area. There were no reports of tornadic activity near Frontenac but the downpour, along with the devastation spawned by Saturday’s storms in southeastern Kansas, northeastern Oklahoma and southwestern Missouri, made resuming the game Tuesday night impossible as well as impractical.
Scheduled activities today at both schools — and the uncertainty of whether the softball field at the Frontenac Sports Complex could be readied in time anyway — pushed the resumption back to Thursday, at a time that will be set today, according to Frontenac Athletics Director Lynda Brenner, the tournament manager.
Frontenac coach Cassie Buche tried to look at the positive side of the postponement.
“It gives us a night’s rest,” she said. “It gives us a day to regroup. Emotionally, physically... the rest will help.”
The Raiders (15-7) outlasted Southeast 4-3 in Tuesday’s second semifinal as Molly McFarland manufactured an eighth-inning run. She beat out an infield hit, took second on a wild pitch by Southeast hurler Ashley Spencer, stole third and scored on another wild pitch.
“I know I was tired, mentally and physically, after that game,” Buche said.
Earlier, Riverton needed an extra inning — and an unearned run — to beat Baxter Springs 1-0.
Keeley Hail pitched a no-hitter for the Rams, but her teammates couldn’t do much better against Baxter Springs’ Jenyce Spence, who gave up just one hit through seven innings.
DaLaynee Ludwig reached on an error to start the eighth and Ambur Simmons followed with the Rams’ second hit of the game. Ludwig scored the only run on Megan Wells’ groundout, beating the return throw to home plate.
Hail struck out 11 and walked two as the Rams improved to 15-4 for the year, a record that included three rainouts and several other games that had to be rescheduled because of weather.
“We’ve been dealing with (the weather) all year,” Riverton coach Brian Mitchell said. “It’s nothing new. We’ve just got to come back and try again (Thursday).”