MANHATTAN — For five glorious innings, Humboldt High’s Courtney Richey and Marysville’s Danielle Fincham treated the crowd to a scintillating pitchers’ duel.
It boiled down to which team could avoid costly mistakes.
Marysville did; Humboldt did not.
The score stood at 0-0 before a pair of hit batters and two errors led to Marysville’s only rally of the game, a three-run spurt in the top of the sixth.
Down, but not out, Humboldt offered up a late rally of its own.
After stranding two runners in the sixth, the first four Lady Cub batters reached base in the bottom of the seventh, including Jaci Ross’ two-run single to pull Humboldt to within 3-2, still with nobody out.
But Fincham got a strikeout, and Breanna Kline’s smash to third base was snared by Marysville’s Lacy Uhlik, who stepped on the bag for one out and threw to first for the other in a game-ending double play.
Just like that, Humboldt’s participation in the Class 3A state softball playoffs was over.
The Lady Cubs’ season ends at 15-3. Marysville advanced to play Salina-Sacred Heart in semifinal action.
“We just needed one more hit to tie and maybe win,” Humboldt coach Brad Piley said. “We had good speed on the bases.”
The loss spoiled Richey’s dominating pitching performance. She allowed a pair of singles in the first inning before retiring 11 in a row at one point. She struck out 11, while allowing only three hits.
The third hit was the killer. Dani Schwarz’s soft line drive just eluded Humboldt shortstop Breanna Kline’s grasp, allowing two runs to score. Another error brought Schwarz home for Marysville’s decisive run.
“Those ‘doo-doo’ hits killed us,” Piley said.
Fimcham retired the first 10 Humboldt batters until Kayle Riebel singled with one out in the fourth. Kline and Riebel singled in the sixth, but could not score. Kasey Beeman, Morgan Morris and Ross singled in the seventh.
Despite the loss, Humboldt has reason for optimism. Richey, after all, is just a freshman. Eleven of the 15 Lady Cub players are freshmen or sophomores. Humboldt loses one senior, first baseman Megan Herder.
“This was the first trip to state for these girls,” Piley said. “Sometimes it takes an experience like this to get your feet wet, to get acclimated to the atmosphere. We’re gonna work our tails off over the offseason to get better. We’ll be back.”
