Lady 'Hounds win I-70 tourney debut

CONCORDIA -- The Sweet Springs softball team jumped on top of Crest Ridge with six runs in the first two innings Tuesday and made it stand up for a 6-4 victory in the first round of the I-70 Conference Tournament at Concordia.

Junior Kathleen Tyler singled in two runs and scored in the first inning and senior Sammi DeWeese followed junior Kristin Jones' RBI single with a two-run hit in the second for the fourth-seeded Lady Greyhounds.

The Lady Cougars (5-6) got a run in the third when junior Kassi Ellison singled and came around on a steal, overthrow and wild pitch. Crest Ridge plated three unearned runs on three errors, and without a hit, in the fifth.

Tyler allowed only five hits and no earned runs for Sweet Springs (5-4), which will play No. 1 seed Santa Fe in today's semifinal round.

Meanwhile, the Sweet Springs baseball team fell behind by giving up five unearned runs on three errors in the third inning and lost its first-round clash against Wellington-Napoleon, 12-2 in six innings.

The 'Hounds took an early lead on senior Blake Vogelsmeier's two-run single in the top of the third, but then quickly coughed it up.

The Tigers broke the game open on sophomore Blake Seitz' grand slam in the fifth. Junior Cody Banner doubled in a run to help Wellington (2-9) end the game early in the sixth.

Sweet Springs (3-6) will take on Windsor in today's semifinal.