Norwood Lady Pirates win district title

The Norwood Lady Pirates’ softball team won the Class 1, District 1 championship last week after extending their winning streak to eight straight games.
The big win gave them a Class 1 State Quarterfinals match-up with St. Elizabeth, a team that defeated them in the district championship game a season ago.
This time, the Lady Pirates were in a 1-1 contest through three innings before a now 28-win Lady Hornets team pulled away late for a 9-3 victory, putting a halt to the Lady Pirates’ Final Four dreams.
Norwood took the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Katelynn Bennett hit an RBI single to score Maddie Campbell. A two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning pushed St. Elizabeth’s lead to 5-1.
A pair of back-to-back ground outs scored the Lady Pirates’ two runs to trim the lead to 5-3 before St. Elizabeth put four runs on the board in their final at-bat.
Bennett had two RBIs; Kinley Sinning had one RBI; Campbell had three hits and scored twice; while Jayden Chambers scored one run.
Campbell tossed seven innings on the mound and allowed six earned runs on 12 hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
Before the loss, the Lady Pirates won their second district title in four seasons when they used a three-run bottom of the fifth inning to seal a 4-1 victory over Stoutland.
Campbell was solid on the mound as she tossed a complete game and gave up one earned run on five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.
Sinning led the offense with one RBI and one run scored; both Gentry Davault and Natalee Lawson had one RBI; Campbell added three hits and scored one run; while Autumn Gunter and Jaycee Hall each scored one run.
“We had been playing well the last few weeks of the regular season and kept it rolling into the district tournament,” said Norwood head coach Lori Drake about her team that entered districts with eight straight wins. “…I think our experienced team has helped us play calmly and confidently, knowing we can battle through whatever each game brings. Our seniors have played in the district championship game all four years, and our juniors all three years. The experience definitely helps in pressure situations.”
In the semifinals, the Lady Pirates were tied 1-1 with Walnut Grove through seven innings.
In Norwood’s final at-bat, Gracelynn Miller grounded out, but Hall was able to score from third base to walk-off as a 2-1 winner. Hall had one RBI and one run scored in the win. Miller had one RBI and Bennett scored the other run.
Campbell tossed seven innings and gave up one earned run on three hits with 13 strikeouts and one walk.
In the first round, Norwood scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and cruised to a 7-0 win over Van Buren.
Lawson had two RBIs and one run scored; Chambers added one RBI and scored one run; Davault, Miller and Campbell had one RBI; while Addie Smith, Mayci Calhoun, Gunter and Hall each scored one run.
Norwood finished the season with a 17-10 overall.