Beech Tree News Network

Last week marked the beginning of all-important district competition with Butler County squaring off against Trinity twice and Grayson County once.  The Bears defeated the Lady Raiders 10-0 on Monday and 5-4 on Tuesday, before falling 7-1 to Grayson County on Thursday. 

Butler County tallied 11 hits in Monday's 5-inning win including singles by Madeline Drake, Amy Rogers (2), Natoshia White, Morgan Manning, Hannah Peach, Kassie Phelps, Alex Embry, and Payton Grubb (2).  Rogers also had a double and stolen base.  White also had a stolen base.  Drake led the way with three RBIs. 

Pitcher Morgan Manning struck out six batters, walked one, and gave up eight hits in the win.

WT    0  0  0  0  0          0    8     2
BC     1  6  1  2  x         10  11    1

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Tuesday's game at Trinity was a different story but the Bears still came out on top with the 5-4 win.  Butler County started with a quick 2-0 lead in the second inning but the Lady Raider rallied with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third.  The Bears responded with three more runs in the 5th inning to take a 5-3 lead.  Trinity threatened in the bottom of the 7th inning, scoring one run and having runners at second and third with two outs.  Drake recorded the final out on a ground ball to short to preserve the win.  Drake, rightfielder Alex Embry, and second baseman Natoshia White made key defensive plays in the late innings to keep Trinity from scoring.

Drake, White (2), Manning, Peach, Jazmin Reynolds (RBI), and Grubb all had singles; Rogers, White and Peach each recorded a double with an RBI. 

Manning allowed six hits and three earned runs in seven innings.  She struck out three batters, walked one and hit one. 

BC     0  2  0  0  3  0  0        5    11    1
WT    0  0  3  0  0  0  1        4     6     0

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Grayson County came to Morgantown on Thursday and left town with a 7-1 win over the Bears.  The Lady Cougars used 11 hits in the win as Butler's bats were limited to six hits scattered across several innings. 

Drake, White, Manning (2, RBI), Embry and Grubb each had singles.  Collectively, Butler County struck out 9 of 27 "at bats."  

Manning allowed 11 hits, six earned runs, while striking out two batters, walking two, and hitting one. 

GC    0  0  4  0  2  0  1        7    11    3
BC    0  0  0  0  0  1  0        1     6    1

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In junior varsity action last week, the Bears picked up two convincing wins over Trinity, 13-2 and 15-2, respectively.  Butler County fell 9-2 to Grayson County. 

In the first game, second baseman Alex Embry (2-RBI) led the way with three singles, while Hannah Peach (RBI) and Abigail Fry (2-RBI) doubled.  Allie Howard had two singles with four RBI; Emily Rich, Candace Ibarra (2-RBI), and Naomi Cade had one apiece.

Winning pitcher Kassie Phelps struck out seven batters and allowed two hits, while walking two. 

In game two, the JV Bears blistered the ball for 16 hits. 

Cade, Embry (3), Peach, Rich, Howard, Fry, and Sarah Johnson all recorded singles for the Bears. Peach, Callie Cardwell (2), and Fry (2) all had doubles. Hitting triples for the Bears were Peach and Rich. Embry, Rich, and Cardwell all had 3 RBI, Peach and Johnson added two apiece while Fry had one.

Pitcher Natoshia White allowed three hits and had five strike-outs in the win.

Against Grayson, Butler County managed only four hits - all singles by Rich, Howard (RBI), Ibarra, and Fry (RBI). Phelps took the pitching loss.  She allowed 12 hits and seven earned runs, while striking out two batters and walking two.

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Photos by Jeremy Hack, Beech Tree News