Trotters sweep Lady Lions in Western B-C play

At an all-time high.

The Plains-Hot Springs Trotters' team confidence has risen to a new level recently, in large part due to late-inning wins like the one over visiting Eureka in the first game of a Western B-C doubleheader Saturday.

That 4-3 win, secured when the Trotters rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh, coupled with a 16-11 win in the second game Saturday, puts coach Michele Bangen and her Trotters one slim win away from clinching a spot in the rapidly upcoming Western B-C divisional tournament a little over two weeks from now.

In fact, the Trotters may have already clinched that Western B-C berth, depending on whether they won one of the two games they were playing against Mission-Arlee-Charlo in Mission Tuesday. Results of those games were not available at press time.

"One more win and we will have a bye into the tournament," Bangen said earlier Tuesday, "there is a lot riding on today's games at Mission."

There was plenty riding on Saturday's games with Eureka as well. The first game of the doubleheader looked like it would belong to the Lady Lions after the top of the sixth inning as Cassie Hammack's two-run single staked Eureka to a 3-1 lead and Lion pitcher Avery Escobar appeared to be at the top of her pitching game.

Accustomed to situations like this, the Trotters finally fought through Escobar's effective pitching to come back and win.

Senior Stacy Gray started the rally in the bottom of the sixth inning with an infield single and eventually moved over to third base, where Sage Jackson brought her home with another infield single to make the score 3-2 Eureka heading into the seventh.

Pitching every bit as effectively as Escobar was for Eureka, Plains junior Kassidy Kinzie then shut down the Lions in the top of the seventh to set up some Trotter heroics in the bottom of that inning.

Natalee Deschamps started the inning with a Texas League single into short right field and then advanced to second base, where Dakota Butcher drove her in with another single.

From there, MyKenzi Blood gained first base on yet another infield hit to give P-HS a runner at first and second with one out. After Danielle Graham moved the base runners over to second and third with a groundout, Gray stepped up to the plate with two on and two out.

Gray made the Lions pay with a sharp grounder to second base, which the Eureka fielder bobbled slightly, giving Gray the opportunity to steam in safely to first base, scoring Butcher with the game-winning run in the process.

Bangen liked how her whole team contributed to the big win.

"We have 16 players and we rely on all of them," she said. "We used everybody on the bench to get this one done. Everyone contributed and that's what I really like about this team; we can still compete even when we are missing a player or two."

Perhaps jacked up by the big win in the first game, the Trotters came out swinging hot bats and roared out to a big lead in the second and then held off the Lions for the 16-11 win.

Gray, Sage Jackson, Kinzie, MacKenzie Elliott, Emma Morgan and Kenzie Angle had two hits each in that game, and Sydney Jackson, Deschamps, Butcher and Graham one apiece. Elliott, Angle and Deschamps each had doubles, Elliott drove in four runs, Angle three, Sage Jackson and Kinzie two apiece and Gray, Butcher and Graham one each.

Although she took a rare break from pitching, Escobar paced the Eureka offense with two hits, including a double, and drove in four runs.