Grems take Prairie Home to extra frame before falling 7-6

The Prairie Home softball team remained undefeated (3-0) on Thursday night as they beat winless Sacred Heart (0-5) at Centennial Park, but just barely.

The Panthers needed an extra frame to knock off the Lady Gremlins 7-6 in eight innings.

“The girls played good, but we always lose a little momentum in the very end and that is the one thing we have to get over,” said Sacred Heart coach Courtney Adams.

Her team was tied at 6 after regulation play. Prairie Home’s Emily Wallingford began the eighth inning with a single up the middle, then stole second and third base. Brittney Chenault delivered the game-winning RBI with a groundout that scored Wallingford.

Sacred Heart made a push in the bottom of the inning. Tequia Thorton led off with a single, but a strikeout and two groundouts ended the inning with Thorton stranded on third.

Prairie Home’s Taylor Zey got the win with four strikeouts in four solid innings. Prairie Home’s starting pitcher, Kristynn Watson, had four strikeouts in four innings of work.

Sacred Heart pitcher Rachel Fisher’s complete- game, 10-strikeout performance wasn’t enough for the Lady Gremlins.

“Rachel had a couple wild pitches that allowed them to move some players around,” Adams said. “That’s a struggle, but this is our third game this week and she has pitched them all.”

Thorton and Fisher both went 2-for-4 with two singles and one RBI for Sacred Heart.

Prairie Home’s Megan Morton also went 2-for-4 with two singles and one RBI.

The Panthers took an early lead in the first inning when Sydney Sells hit a single and advanced to third on an overthrow past first base. She then took home on a passed ball to put Prairie Home up 1-0. Kendra Slinson walked, then stole second and third before scoring on a passed ball, giving the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, Fisher reached on an error before stealing second and third base and eventually scoring on a passed ball to cut the lead to 2-1.

With two outs in the third inning, Sacred Heart’s Emily Staus doubled to left field. Staus stole third and scored on Fisher’s single to tie the game at 2. Fisher stole second, then was driven home by Lindsey Brace’s double to put Sacred Heart ahead 3-2.

The fifth inning proved tough for both pitchers.

Fisher loaded the bases with three walks before giving up back-to-back singles to Morton and Zey, leading to three runs and giving the Panthers a 5-3 lead.

Watson’s sacrifice bunt down the third base line scored another run, putting Prairie Home ahead 6-3.

Watson struggled in the fifth. After walking the first four batters to give Sacred Heart an easy run, she hit Hilary Strange to score another run and make it a 6-5 ballgame.

Thorton’s singled tied the game at 6.