The North Platte Bulldogs split its double header against Omaha Gross and Omaha Skutt in Hastings Thursday.
North Platte played Gross in the first game and came away with a 3-2 win. The Cougars of Omaha Gross struck first with a run in the top of the first inning, but the Lady Dawgs quickly responded by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the first to go up 2-1. Gross tied the game in the second inning with an unearned run. The go-ahead run for North Platte came in the fourth inning. Jenny Keck tripled with one out to get into scoring position. One out later Rachel Kosmacek came to the plate and stroked a double to left-center field to score Keck, who ended up being the winning run. Kosmacek said she knew she could drive in the run.
“I was up to bat, two out, and I just said I can and hit the ball,” Kosmacek said. “Had a really good hit, probably my best hit in a really long time so it felt really good.”
Marisa Ramos led the way for North Platte against Gross. Ramos pitched a complete game to earn the win and gave up just two unearned runs on three hits. She also struck out five batters and walked two. She also added an RBI single at the plate and scored a run. Willow Chitty went 2-3 for the Dawgs with an RBI.
In the second game of the day North Platte lost to Omaha Skutt 5-3. Skutt took the early lead with two runs in the second inning thanks to four straight singles to lead off the inning. The Bulldogs responded by batting through the order and scoring three runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 3-2 lead. The 3-2 score held going into the seventh inning when Omaha Skutt scored to tie the game then two North Platte errors allowed Skutt to take a 5-3 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. The Lady Dawgs got their first two batters on in the bottom of the seventh but a great double play turned by Skutt second baseman Katie Perkins put a stop to the rally and the third-ranked team in Class B beat North Platte.
Keck pitched the complete game and gave up five runs, two earned, on six hits. She also struck out four batters and walked one. Katie Franzen led the way at the plate by going 2-4 with a run scored.
North Platte is now 2-1 on the season and will next play Saturday at the LPS Classic Tourney in Lincoln. The Dawgs are in a pool with Fremont, Lincoln Southwest and Lincoln Pius X. They play Fremont at 11:00 Saturday morning, Lincoln Southwest at approximately 3:00 pm and Pius X at approximately 5:00 pm. All three games can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410.