By Ryan Atkinson

ratkinson@joplinglobe.com

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Two swings of the bat put a sour end to a rough Saturday for the Riverton Rams at the Kansas Class 3A state softball tournament.

The McLouth Bulldogs got a pair of doubles in the bottom of the eighth to send the Rams to a 1-0 loss in the third-place game at the Twin Oaks Sports Complex.

Earlier in the day, the Rams committed six errors and gave up a 2-0 lead in a 6-2 loss to the Wichita Independent Panthers in a semifinal matchup.

“It’s tough any way you lose,” Riverton coach Brian Mitchell said. “But after getting the lead in that semifinal and then just not getting any breaks … it’s tough.”

The Rams plated single runs in each of the first two innings of the semifinal, but didn’t score again all day, a string of 13 straight scoreless innings.

Riverton mustered just two hits and four base runners while striking out 14 times in the third-place game.

“You come up here to win a state championship, you don’t come here to try to win third place” Mitchell said. “It’s hard for everyone involved to get yourself back up to the intensity that you had in the semifinal, when you still had a chance at a championship. So we were kind of flat almost the whole game.”

Riverton was stifled by McLouth pitcher Kaitlyn Sparks. Sparks went all eight innings, allowing just two hits and two walks. She struck out the side in the second, fifth and eighth innings.

“We really were flat more offensively than defensively,” Mitchell said. “We played good defense in that second game, but we couldn’t get anything going offensively. We couldn’t make the adjustments to get hits when we needed them.”

Sophomore pitcher Haleigh Sills was the tough-luck loser in the third-place game. She went eight innings, allowing seven hits while striking out four. She twice put runners at second and third, but escaped to keep the game scoreless.

But then came the eighth.

Sparks led off with a rocket double to right-center and then moved to third on Missy Rome’s sacrifice bunt. Samantha Farris then drilled a Sills pitch over the head of Riverton right fielder Carleigh Hall to end the game.

“Take two hits away and we have a chance at third,” Mitchell said. “But that’s the way things go.”

In the semifinal, the Rams built a 2-0 lead on the then-undefeated Panthers, who later fell 2-0 to Thomas Moore Prep in the championship game.

Cheslyn Mitchell led off the game with a single right and then moved to third on Stormi Bond’s sacrifice bunt and Haleigh Sills’ grounder to short. Mitchell then came home when Erin Tuttle’s pitch got away from catcher Rachel Damiris.

Shantell Jewett led off the second with a single to right. Carleigh Hall, Jewett’s courtesy runner, stole second, moved to third on Whitney Shafer’s bloop single to left and then scored on Dalaynee Ludwig’s groundout, giving the Rams their two-run lead.

“Going into that game against an undefeated team that is seeded No. 1, I don’t think a lot of people gave us much of a chance,” Mitchell said. “But we came out and got on top. We just couldn’t hold on.”

It was in the bottom of the second when Riverton’s mistakes — and Independent’s Cheyenne Stewart — starting taking over.

Stewart — who started the game in center before coming in to pitch in the fourth — led off the second with a double to deep right-center. She moved to third when Kelsi Standlee’s bunt was fielded but thrown high to first. Standlee then stole second, but Jewett, Riverton’s catcher, tried to pick Stewart off at third. Jewett’s throw ended up in left field, allowing Stewart to score.

Stewart’s double in the fourth drove home Damiris to knot the game at 2-2. Two pitches later Standlee put down a bunt that pitcher Keeley Hail threw into right field, letting Stewart cross the plate and put the Panthers up 3-2.

The Rams allowed three more runs in the game, all of which were the direct result of errors.

“For the last half of the season, our defense has really stepped up and played great,” Mitchell said. “But (Independent) started getting some hits and putting the ball in play and we made some mistakes. It just kind of steamrolled from there.”

Riverton loses four starters from the roster, but will bring back a load of experience.

“Our seniors have been great,” Mitchell said. “Not all of them were everyday starters, but they were great leaders. We had a great season and the girls don’t have anything to hand their heads about. We’ll have a good team coming back next year.”