Chase County Schools softball season ends at districts

It’s been a season where little has gone right for Chase County’s softball team and that trend continued right up to the nitty-gritty end Monday at Chadron.
The Longhorns struggled to get going offensively throughout their district game against top-seeded Chadron. With two outs in Chase County’s final inning of the season, Denisse Guillen had a full count according to both teams’ scorebooks, the base umpire and the scoreboard. But the home plate umpire ruled that Guillen had three strikes and was out. Season over.
CCS started the game defensively by retiring Chadron’s leadoff batter.  The Longhorns got their second out against Chadron’s No. 5 hitter. But errors started to accumulate as the inning went on. CCS gave up 14 runs in the first and another four in the second inning of the 0-18 loss.
The season ending loss continued many trends for the Longhorns. Besides getting an early out defensively, CCS only had one strikeout offensively in the game and the other batters put the ball in play. Despite that, runs were tough to come by.
Head Coach Denise Smith also said they’ve seen some unusual calls by umpires throughout the season, including the call against Guillen.
The Longhorns also continued their trend of road games with trips to Holyoke and Alliance late last week.
Chase County had its best offensive game of the season last Thursday at Holyoke.
The bottom of the Longhorns’ lineup came through to give CCS a 4-1 lead by the end of the second inning.
Though its bats went quite through the fourth and fifth innings, Chase County shook off a 6-12 deficit. The Longhorns scored three runs in the fifth inning and broke loose for six in the top of the seventh inning to claim a 15-14 lead. Holyoke made the most of its chances in the bottom of the seventh and handed CCS a 15-16 loss.
Every player in the lineup scored for CCS.
Katelyn Stamm and Marley Randall each doubled and singled.
Singles were also hit by Alex Johnson and Brooke Schilke, while Jasmine Johnson, Hailey Markee and Yesi Ruiz each hit two singles.
Randall also pitched a complete game.
Smith said the game was one that will stand out when looking back over the season.
“Hits were contagious for us. When one did it the rest followed suit,” Smith said.
After a strong offensive output in the first game it was a surprise for many when CCS struggled to get going against the same pitcher in game two.
Chase County stranded four runners, including a bases loaded opportunity, in the 0-12 loss. Johnson had the Longhorns’ only hit in the game.
The regular season came to an end in Alliance Saturday with a triangular with the Bulldogs and Chadron.
CCS lost to Chadron 3-17 in its first game. Stamm and A. Johnson hit back-to-back singles in the second inning and came around to score. Schilke doubled in the second inning and scored, as well.
Smith said her team was intimidated by Alliance’s pitcher in the second game and Chase County’s defense missed out on a couple opportunities to get outs.
The Longhorns only trailed 0-3 after the first inning, but gave up 12 runs in the second inning of the 0-15 loss.