The Gore Lady Pirates made it to the loser’s-bracket final of the 2024 Riverside Conference Tournament, which took place Thursday and Friday at Stigler Sports Complex.
The Lady Pirates opened the tournament with a 7-4 win over Webbers Falls in Thursday’s opening-round game, but then lost 8-1 to Keota in the winner’sbracket semifinals later in the day.
Then, the Lady Pirates staved off elimination twice, beating Gans 10-1 on Thursday and getting another win over Webbers Falls, this time by the score of 13-4 on Friday.
However, the Lady Pirates lost 10-0 to Keota in the loser’s-bracket final later on Friday.
Last week started with a heartbreaking 15-7 loss to host Central on Sept. 3 after scoring seven runs in the opening innings.
In the first win over Webbers Falls in the RCT, the Lady Pirates (7-6) scored three runs in the first inning and twice in the third inning for a 5-0 lead. The Lady Warriors cut their deficit to 5-3 with a threerun third inning but got no closer.
For the game, River Shoemake singled with a run batted in and a run scored, Cheyenne Davidson singled with an RBI and Kennedy Williams singled and scored once for Gore.
Davidson (7-6) got the win, fanning four batters in 2.2 innings.
In the first loss to Keota, the Lady Lions roared their way to an early lead as a three-run first inning and a fourrun second inning put Keota ahead 7-0 after two innings.
Keota pitcher Jaycee Byrd threw a no-hitter as the only run Gore scored came in the third inning on Shoemake’s grounder.
In Gore’s victory over Gans, the Lady Grizzlies were two-hit by Davidson, who struck out five batters in four innings.
The Lady Pirates scored four runs in the first inning and three runs in the second inning for a 7-0 lead after two innings.
For the game, Sophie O’Connor was 3-for-3 with a double, two home runs — a two-run, inside- the-park homer in the opening inning and a solo inside-the-park homer in the third inning — four RBIs and three runs scored, while Shoemake was 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and three runs scored for Gore.
In Gore’s second tournament win over Webbers Falls, the Lady Pirates put away the game early with a 10-run first inning.
Davidson threw a two-hitter as the only blemishes against her were a single apiece by Webbers Falls hitters LKextyn Chappell and Gracie Sturgell.
For the game, O’Connor was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs, Ricki Huckbay was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored and Shoemake was 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and a run scored for Gore.
In the tournamentending loss to Keota, Byrd, after throwing a no-hitter against Gore on Thursday, one-hit the Lady Pirates, who only could muster a single by Williams.
Davidson suffered the loss, although she fanned five batters in four innings.
In the loss to Central, the Lady Pirates sent 10 batters to the plate in the opening inning and scored seven runs to take a 7-0 lead.
The Lady Tigers scored three runs in the second inning, twice in the fourth inning and 10 runs in the fifth inning to take a 15-7 lead to put the game into run-rule status.
The Lady Tigers amassed 20 hits.
In defeat, Huckbay doubled with two RBIs and a run scored, while Hallie Brewer singled and scored once for the Lady Pirates. Davidson suffered the loss, despite fanning two batters in 4.2 innings pitched.
