North Platte – Two outs, bottom of the eighth, and the wind blowing, the North Platte Community College Knights Alyiah Franco attempted to steal second. The ball was overthrown and Franco advanced to third. When the ball got away from the Southeast Community College Lady Storm third baseman, Franco scored the game winning run to give the Knights a 7-6 come from behind win in the second game and completed the sweep of the doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at the Dowhower Softball Complex.
The Knights won the first game 10-4.
In the second game, the Lady Storm started out the game with three straight baserunners. The fourth batter, Jessica Lusk hit a grand slam to give the Lady Storm a 4-0 lead.
Samantha Foster, the Knights’ pitcher settled down and held the Lady Storm scoreless until the seventh inning when they scored two runs.
Meanwhile, the Knights scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning by Sarah Beaton and Shelby Belloni and another run by Franco in the fifth inning. Going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lady Storm held a 6-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, with Franco and Samantha Gill on base, Erin Renwick pinch hit for the Knights and drove the ball over the outfield fence to tie the game at six and send it into extra innings.
In Game one, the Lady Storm were first on the board on a run by Savannah Grabowski. They added a run in the second by Cassidy Burkhardt.
The Knights took a 4-2 lead after two innings with two runs by Gill, one run by Ana Kaniho, and another one by Franco.
The Storm tied the game up on a two-run home run by Shelby Haskell in the fourth inning.
With Beaton on in the bottom of the fourth, Foster hit a two-run homerun down the left field line to put the Knights up for good at 6-4. The Knights added insurance runs in the fifth by Gill, Alexandra Baldner, Mikela Cabagua, and Franco.
Renwick got the win in game one, and Foster picked up the win in game two.
The Knights are now 24-22 on the season, and finish Region IX Division II regular season play with a 10-2 record. They will be the number one seed and will host either Southeast or Central Community College in a best two out of three series on April 28-30 to determine the Region IX Division II champion.
The Lady Storm are 16-31 overall and finish 4-8 in Region IX Division II play. They are tied with Central Community College, who also finished Region IX play at 4-8. Those two teams will play a best two out of three series on April 21-23 to see who plays the Knights.
The Knights are next in action on Wednesday, April 12 when they host Northeastern Junior College in a doubleheader. Game times are at 4 pm and 6 pm CDT. The games will be livestreamed on www.npccknights.com.
Note: The games against Colby scheduled for April 14 have been cancelled.