Lady Broncos close out their season in Regional Tournament

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague fastpitch softball team’s post-season ended on Tuesday, May 24, in the Regional Tournament.

The placing for the Regional Tournament took place on May 17 in Spokane at the Merkel Fields. The Lady Broncos took on Northwest Christian for their first match up of the day. Northwest Christian, the number one team, beat the Lady Broncos 20-0.

LRS had no runs, two hits and four errors. The Northwest Christian pitcher had a much higher velocity than the Lady Broncos are used to competing against and because of this they were unable to get hits.

This game sent them to a match up versus Colfax for the third or fourth seating into the Regional Tournament. LRS had 15 runs, 11 hits and just one error to secure a 15-3 win over the Lady Bulldogs.

Head Coach Todd O’Brien stated the team offensively hit the ball well with three extra base hits and timely hitting in the third inning where the Lady Broncos brought in eight runners.

Emma Aldrich pitched this game and allowed six hits and had 11 ground ball outs in the five innings she pitched.

Alarah Pierce-Pulliam was 3-for-3 with a double and Aldrich was 2-for-3 also with a double.

This win moved the Lady Broncos into the third seed for the Regional Tournament, which began on Saturday, May 21, at Franklin Park in Spokane versus the DeSales Lady Irish. The Lady Irish were the number two seed in the tournament.

Heading into the sixth inning the game was tied 4-4. DeSales loaded the bases with two outs and were able to bring in six runners off of four hits.

LRS scored one in the seventh but could not close the defecit and fell 5-10.

The Lady Broncos had five runs, eight hits and three errors. Pierce-Pulliam was 2-for-4 and Alisha Baker was 2-for-2 in her first game back since she sprained her ankle on May 2 in their game against Liberty.

The Lady Broncos then moved on to face Springdale in a loser out competition and the winner will advance to the State Tournament as the fifth or sixth seed. The game began on May 21 and was rained out in the top of the fourth inning with Springdale up 3-1.

The game was rescheduled for Tuesday, May 24, at 11 a.m. at Merkel Fields in Spokane. The Lady Broncos were unable to cinch the victory and fell to Springdale 2-12.

LRS had eight hits and no errors in this game with Aldrich on the mound and Lacey Miller behind the plate.

Springdale took off in the last few innings with three home runs including a grand slam to secure their spot in the State Tournament.

The loss knocked the Lady Broncos out of the run for a state title, but brought a successful conclusion to their season.

The Lady Broncos are only graduating two seniors from the team this year, and are optimistic about another post-season performance next season.