ACC comeback falls short

A ferocious seventh-inning rally came up short Monday for Allen Community College’s softball team.
The Red Devils trailed 7-0 headed into the bottom of the seventh, when the first three batters of the inning reached base. Kaitlin Rash singled and came around to score on a pair of Johnson County errors. Mary Reilly also reached on an error and Lauren Poertner singled, all with one out. Maecy Charleston’s subsequent three-run home run pulled the Red Devils to within 7-4 before Johnson County hurler Zoe Price slammed the door on the final two ACC batters, both with strikeouts.
“It was nice to see the girls keep fighting until the end, but we can’t wait until the last inning to put together hits like that,” Allen coach Jamie Amerine said. “We hit the ball well, but it was too late.”
There was no such drama in the second game. Johnson County scored five runs in the top of the first and rolled to an 11-3 win.
The losses drop Allen to 5-19 in Jayhawk Conference play and 5-28 overall.
The Red Devils are hosting Fort Scott this afternoon and will travel to Cottey College in Nevada, Mo., Thursday.

THE CAVALIERS strung together 12 hits and five walks against Allen starter Audra Nelson in the opener. Johnson County led 2-0 after one inning, 3-0 after three and 5-0 after five.
Still Nelson battled, stranding 10 Johnson County runners in the game.
The Red Devils recorded six hits, Charleston’s home run, a double by Bailey Burnett and singles by Taylor Easum, Kaitlin Norris, Rash and Poertner.

CHARLESTON’S second home run of the day, a two-run, second-inning shot, cut Allen’s deficit to 5-2. Johnson County responded with one in the third and four in the fourth to lead 10-2.
The big blow was a grand slam home run, which followed an Allen error, Amerine said.
“It’s the same story,” she said. “We have one or two errors that usually wind up hurting us.”
Paige Rothwell and Burnett had back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the fourth for Allen’s third run.
“It was nice to see Maecy come up big,” Amerine said. “She had been struggling a bit and was able to break out of her slump. Bailey Burnett had a couple of nice hits for us as well.”
Rash started, giving up seven hits and two walks in three innings. Nelson pitched two innings, giving up five hits and five runs, only one of which was earned.
Rothwell had two hits, including a double. Annie Gentry delivered a single, as did Norris.