The Snow College softball team collected four victories at the College of Southern Nevada Coyote Kickoff Classic last weekend. The Badgers defeated Yavapai College (15-1), Central Arizona College (17-4), Eastern Arizona College (7-6) and Gateway Community College (15-6).
The Badgers started the tournament against Pima Community College. The Aztecs got out to a hot start and scored a pair of runs in the first inning. They followed that up by scoring five runs in the third and added another in the fourth before the Badgers recorded a run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Snow College would cut into the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning as
Hallie Young singled to left field and drove in
Hailey Mangum. A few batters later,
Hadlee Walker tripled to right field to drive in another run. The Badgers were held scoreless throughout the remainder of the game and suffered the loss, 9-3.
The Badgers' bats came alive in game two of the tournament as they scored 15 runs against the Roughriders. Snow College scored three runs in their opening frame as Young doubled in
McCall Maxfield.
Kamryn Allen followed that up by smacking a home run to center field to plate two more.
Three Badgers hit homers in the bottom of the second inning including two three-run blasts from
Reata O'Neal and
Ayden Fitch and a grand slam from Maxfield. A single from
Dailee Maughan and a sacrifice fly from Young gave the Badgers an insurmountable 15-1 lead.
The Badgers maintained the momentum into the final game of day one as they scored 17 runs against CAC. The offense exploded for nine runs in the second inning highlighted by a grand slam by Walker. Allen also hit one over the wall as the Badgers took a 9-2 lead.
Snow College continued the onslaught in the fourth inning as they tacked on eight more runs. The Badgers used five extra-base hits including a two-run double from Maughan. The Badgers went on to win 17-4.
Game four of the tournament was the closest game of the weekend. The Badgers were able to hold on to the 7-6 victory against EAC. Both teams scored a pair of runs in the first inning before the Gila Monsters took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the third.
Allen turned the game on its head in the top of the fifth as she hit the Badgers' third grand slam of the tournament and turned the two-run deficit into a 7-5 lead. EAC added a run in the bottom of the sixth, but
Saige Ewing entered in relief to shut the door on the comeback and the Badgers won 7-6.
Young got the Badgers on the board in the bottom of the first against GCC. She hit a solo homer to left field to give the Badgers a 1-0 lead. Snow College scored six runs in the second inning, but surrendered five runs to the Geckos in the third.
A two-run triple from
Tasia Shibuya in the bottom of the third and a single from Maxfield gave the Badgers a 10-5 lead after three complete. GCC scored once in the top of the fifth before the Badgers ended things in the bottom of the inning as they scored five times to end the game via run rule, 15-6.
Allen paced the Badgers offensively as she went 7-11 at the plate, hit three homers, and drove in 10 runs. Young also went 7-11 and tallied six RBIs for the Badgers. Ewing looked sharp from inside the circle as she appeared in all five games for the Badgers. She allowed just five earned runs in 15.0 innings pitched while striking out 11 batters.
Snow College will now head to Yuma, Arizona to participate in the Chapman Auto Great Western Shootout hosted by Arizona Western College. The Badgers will take on six opponents during the three-day tournament starting with PCC Thursday at 1:00 p.m. and AWC at 5:00 p.m. They will then take on Glendale Community College Friday at 3:00 p.m. followed by a meeting With EAC at 5:00 p.m.
They will cap off the tournament with a rematch against PCC Saturday at 9:00 a.m. before taking on Chandler-Gilbert Community College at 11:00 a.m. For additional information, visit snowbadgers.com.
