Softball season ends with close loss at subdistricts

    Softball season ended for Chase County Monday night with a 5-7 loss to Hershey in subdistricts at Chadron.
    The Longhorns were seeded third and faced second seeded Hershey (13-22). Chadron (17-11) faced Bayard (1-19) in the other half of the C-10 subdistrict and beat the Tigers 12-0. Chadron would go on to claim the subdistrict title with a 14-0 win over the Panthers.
    CCS Head Coach Denise Smith said it was a long night and the team was slow to get started.
    Chase County quickly fell behind 0-2 in the first inning to Hershey and later trailed 0-5 at the end of the fourth.
    CCS scored two runs on a Jesusita Ruiz double, then pulled to within one run, 4-5 in the sixth inning. The momentum the Longhorns were building stalled during their half of the inning with an hour long weather delay.
    “We started slow on the bats but got them going in the fifth a little and the sixth and then the lightning started. We had runners on first and third with nobody out and then had to wait out an hour lightning/rain delay,” Smith said.
     When the game resumed, CCS tied it a 5-5.
    Hershey scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and while Chase County got a base runner on in the seventh inning, back-to-back strikeouts ended the Longhorns’ season.
    Smith said CCS showed improvement from its losses to Hershey Sept. 8 and did a good job minimizing Panther runs despite defensive errors.
    “We’ve had about three games here lately where it’s been an up and down affair. I was really proud of the girls for maintaining their focus and enthusiasm after the long delay. It’s been a really busy week with games and the travel and the girls did a really good job and playing hard through every game,” she said.
Back to SVA
    CCS made its second trip of the season to Southern Valley/Alma Sept. 27 for a triangular with Kearney Catholic (14-15) and SVA (8-25).
    The Longhorns won their season opener over SVA and Smith said CCS certainly had opportunities to win last week.
    CCS scored four runs in the first inning, but stranded seven runners in scoring position throughout the game.
    SVA scored three runs in the second inning and two in the third, giving CCS a 4-5 loss.
    Coming off the emotional loss, Chase County lost 0-10 to Kearney Catholic.
    Smith said the difference in the game came at the plate.
    “They hit well and we fielded well, but we struggled at the plate,” she said.
Split with Holyoke
    Chase County wrapped up its home and away series with Holyoke, Colorado Sept. 29 in Imperial.
    The Longhorns lost both games in Holyoke Aug. 30, 8-11 and 4-12.
    Last week they showed how much they improved over the course of the season, taking game one from the Dragons 10-2.
    The Longhorns’ bats were on fire in the first game. CCS scored 10 runs in the first three innings while holding Holyoke scoreless. Holyoke scored a run in each of the last two innings, but Chase County took the win in five innings, 10-2.
    Smith said it was probably the Longhorns’ best game at the plate all year.
    “Everybody in the lineup had a hit! Pitching was good, and only one error so fielding was good. We had some really nice plays. It was a really good overall game for us,” Smith said.
    The second game Smith called an emotional roller coaster and said it got pretty intense.
    The Dragons started the game with much more aggressive base running than the first game and CCS trailed 0-3. The Longhorns scored in the bottom of the second, but trailed 1-4 heading into the fifth inning.
    “We weren’t hitting as well the first four innings and then started to come alive,” Smith said.
    With four runs in the fifth inning Chase County took a 5-4 lead then increased it to 6-4 at the end of the sixth inning.
    Holyoke had more in its tank. The Dragons tied the game in the seventh inning, sending the game into extra innings.
    Smith said her team hasn’t had many experiences in that situation, so it was a good experience.
    Holyoke scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning. CCS scored one run in the bottom half of the inning, but left runners stranded in the 7-8 loss.
    “I wish we could have hung on for them after they worked hard to come back and the last home game of the year. But, two much better games than the two we had played against Holyoke earlier in the year,” Smith said.
    Hill struck out four in the first game and three in the second game while not giving up any walks in either.
Regular season ends
    The subdistrict tournament wasn’t the Longhorns only trip to Chadron. The team made the trek Oct. 1 for a double header with the Cardinals and Alliance.
    CCS lost a double header at home to Chadron Sept. 16, but it was Chase County’s first game against Alliance.
    The Longhorns were shut out against Chadron 0-10.
    “Even though we didn’t score against Chadron I thought we did a good job of putting it in play and making them field it,” Smith said, adding the CCS defense didn’t have any errors in the game despite Chadron hitting the ball well.
    Although Chase County played clean defensively in the second game against Alliance, offense was still a problem and Smith said the Longhorns just didn’t gain any momentum in the 1-12 loss.
    Smith complimented Hill on her work in the two games. On the day, Hill struck out seven and walked three.