Twin Rivers overtakes Bernie softball team in 7th inning 8-7

Note: A photo gallery of the Bernie-Twin Rivers softball game is available at this link: Photos Here

BERNIE, Mo. - The Bernie Mules softball team overcame a one-run deficit twice and a two-run deficit once but came up just shy in its bid to knock off the Twin Rivers Royals Friday afternoon.

The Royals tallied three runs in the top of the seventh inning and threw a runner out at the plate to end the game in the bottom of the seventh inning in its 8-7 win at Bernie.

"Bernie's a great team that has a chance to win their district," Twin Rivers coach Dustin Benson said. "We did a great job of scoring runs when we had too and played great defense behind our pitcher."

Twin Rivers, which improved to 10-2 with the win, avoided extra innings when it turned a 1-3-2 game-ending double play. The play developed when Madissen Corbin hit a ground ball to Twin Rivers starting pitcher Kierra Cunningham who threw to first base for the second out of the bottom of the seventh. Addie Shelton, who led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, broke home from third base on the play and was tagged out by catcher Kacey Nance on a bang, bang play just in front of home plate.

Twin Rivers entered the seventh inning trailing 7-5. The Royals erased the deficit when Kelsey Buttrey and Cheyenne Buie collected back-to-back singles to start the seventh and J.C. Morgan followed with a two-RBI single. Twin Rivers added the game-winning run later in the frame when a runner at third base broke home and scored as the Bernie defense was chasing a runner between second and third base who was caught in a rundown.

Bernie put together its own rally shortly before when it scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 7-5 advantage. Tori Lowrey had an RBI single in the sixth and Jordan Ellenburg followed with a two-RBI single to give Bernie its only lead.

Ellenburg finished 2 for 4 with a team-high three RBIs for the Mules. It is cleanup hitter Ellenburg's first week of play in the 2014 season.

"She's probably still in some pain from her back surgery she had several weeks back and we really didn't even expect her to get back, but she wanted to try it," Bernie coach Brad Botsch said of Ellenburg. "She hit three rockets yesterday and had two hits today. It's really nice to have her back. She's a senior and it's good to see her have a chance to play."

Twin Rivers never trailed until Bernie calculated three runs in the sixth. The game was tied 1-1 after one inning before Twin Rivers moved ahead 3-1 after two innings and led 4-2 after three innings. Bernie tied the game at 4-4 when Lowrey hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, but the Royals moved back ahead with another run in the top of the sixth.

Bernie made seven errors in the game and Twin Rivers committed two.

"It was a back-and-forth battle," Botsch said. "We put together a good run in the bottom of the sixth and Twin Rivers bounced right back. I thought we made a lot of mistakes and a lot of them were on fly balls. They were not even on balls off the dirt and those are tough to stomach because if you just catch the ball you record outs. I thought of the eight runs Blakely gave up, maybe two or three were earned so she did a great job on the mound and we've got to do a better job playing defense behind her."

Morgan finished 2 for 5 at the plate with a team-high three RBIs for the Royals.

Buttrey reached base in all four plate appearances. She was 3 for 3 with a walk and an RBI single.

Maci Shearer drove home a run in the top of the second when she grounded out.

Tatum Stone tallied an RBI on a ground out in the bottom of the third and Jescie McGuire did the same in the bottom of the fourth for the Mules.

Cunningham collected a complete-game win for the Royals and Blakely Bradshaw suffered a complete-game loss.

Bernie recovered with a 4-3 victory against Puxico in the nightcap of the doubleheader Friday. The Mules are 10-6 at the start of the playoffs which are slated to begin Monday in Bernie.

"We had a lot of miscues defensively in the Twin Rivers game and they capitalized," Botsch said. "We bounced back and played more solid in the Puxico game and squeaked one out. Hopefully, we are ready for the district tournament next week."

Twin Rivers 8, Bernie 7

TRS 121 001 3 - 8 11 2

BHS 101 113 0 - 7 10 7

WP - Kierra Cunningham. LP - Blakely Bradshaw. HR - Tori Lowrey (B). 2B - J.C. Morgan (TR), Jordan Ellenburg (B). Multiple hits - Twin Rivers: Morgan 2-5, Kacey Nance 2-5, Kelsey Buttrey 3-3; Bernie: Lowrey 3-4, Ellenburg 2-4.

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Bernie-Woodland

MARBLE HILL, Mo. - Bernie's Tori Lowrey and Lari Jean Spitzer each had a triple as the Mules dealt some revenge to the Woodland Cardinals Thursday on their home field.

Blakely Bradshaw was the winning pitcher and also doubled. She threw six innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Madi Corbin, Jordan Ellenburg and Addie Shelton each hit a double for Bernie (9-7).

Josie Long went 3 for 4 at the plate to pace Woodland (10-6), while Shelby Sawyer added two hits.

The Cardinals edged Bernie 9-8 in a semifinal of the Stoddard County Activities Association (SCAA) Conference Tournament on Monday.

Bernie 15, Woodland 5

BHS 040 013 7 - 15 15 0

WHS 200 011 1 - 5 8 0

WP - Blakely Bradshaw. LP - Josie Long. 3B - Tori Lowrey (B), Lari Jean Spitzer (B). 2B -- Blakely Bradshaw (B), Madi Corbin (B), Jordan Ellenburg (B), Addie Shelton (B). Multiple hits - Bernie: Jordan Ellenburg 3-5, Tori Lowrey 3-5, Addie Shelton 3-5, Lari Jean Spitzer 2-5; Woodland: Josie Long 3-4, Shelby Sawyer 2-4.