The North Platte Bulldogs softball team won its third straight game by beating No. 10 Lincoln Southeast 10-0 in four innings Monday.

The two teams met on a rainy evening at the Dowhower Softball Complex in North Platte. North Platte jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a two-run home run from senior catcher Mikenzi Wiseman. Wiseman’s home run landed in the pond beyond the left field fence.

The Lady Dawgs added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. Sophomore Willow Chitty showcased some textbook hitting in the second inning. North Platte had already scored one run and sophomore Kylie Engleman was on third with two outs when Chitty roped a single through the 3-4 hole to drive in Engleman.

The Lady Dawgs were shutout in the third inning, but the defense came up with North Platte’s first traditional double play of the season. Lincoln Southeast’s Madison Otte hit a hard ground ball to senior shortstop Marissa Ramos, who flipped it to Chitty at second base, who threw to senior first baseman Jenny Keck for the 6-4-3 double play to end the top of the third inning.

The infielders for North Platte apparently thought it was fun once so they turned another double play in the fourth inning. Engleman backhanded a hard hit ground ball down the third base line, made a perfect throw to Chitty at second, who threw to Keck at first for a 5-4-3 double play and the first two outs of the inning on Hailey Davis’ ground ball.

North Platte scored three more runs in the fourth inning to secure the 10-0 run-rule victory. Engleman struck out to begin the inning but reached first base on the pitch in the dirt. Wiseman scored a run after drawing a walk and Chitty came across the plate on a wild pitch to end the game.

Senior pitcher Kaite Franzen threw the shutout inside the circle for North Platte. Franzen only gave up three hits in four innings of work, she also struck out one batter while issuing four walks. Franzen also went 1-2 at the plate with a run scored.

Wiseman led the way at the plate by going 1-2 with a home run, a walk, two RBI and two runs scored. Keck went 1-3 with three RBI and a run scored and Engleman went 1-3 with three runs scored and an RBI.

North Platte is now 13-8 on the season and next plays Tuesday night at home against McCook.

The North Platte Bulldogs softball team will be hosting the 2014 North Platte High School Softball Classic on Saturday.

The Lady Dawgs placed second at their home tournament last season. North Platte beat Kearney 5-1, followed by a win over Gering 7-6, before losing to Lincoln North Star 10-6 in the championship game.

There will be eight teams competing in the tournament that will be held at the Dowhower Softball Complex in North Platte. North Platte will once again begin the tournament by playing Kearney. The Bulldogs are currently 8-7 on the season while the Bearcats are 6-9. The other teams at the tournament are Ralston (9-1), Alliance (0-13), Scottsbluff (8-8), Chadron (3-6), Gering (14-4), and Lexington (4-11).

North Platte has played Lexington and Gering already this season and went 2-1. The Lady Dawgs beat Lexington in a doubleheader, 13-1 and 13-5, but lost to Gering at the McCook Invite, 7-4.

The bracket for the tournament can be seen by clicking on the link below and an updated North Platte Bulldogs scheduled can be seen on the North Platte Bulldogs Sports Zone page.

NPHS 2014 Softball Invite Bracket

The North Platte Bulldogs softball team went 1-1 in two neutral site games against Hastings and Lincoln East on Thursday.

Kearney hosted the three teams with North Platte playing Hastings and Lincoln East. The Dawgs played Hastings in the first game of the night and lost 9-2. The Lady Tigers jumped on North Platte early by scoring four runs in the top half of the first inning. The Lady Dawgs cut the lead in half by the end of the third inning but still trailed 4-2. Hastings then scored three runs in the fourth inning and its final two runs in the sixth for the 9-2 win.

Senior Jenny Keck led the way at the plate by going 1-3 with a double and an RBI in the loss. Sophomore Willow Chitty was the only player from North Platte with more than one hit as she had two singles and a run scored.

Keck also took the loss inside the circle after giving up nine runs, eight earned, on 14 hits in six innings. She also struck out three batters and didn’t issue a walk. Senior Katie Franzen came in for the final inning for North Platte and gave up one hit but no runs.

The second game of the night for North Platte was a different story offensively as the Dawgs beat Lincoln East 12-10. North Platte once again gave up first inning runs to the Spartans to trail 2-0 going into the bottom half of the inning. The Dawgs responded quickly though by scoring three runs to take a 3-2 lead. North Platte added two more in the second inning and led 5-2. Lincoln East got back on the scoring train in the fourth inning by scoring five runs to take a 7-5 lead, but North Platte again responded by scoring three runs in the fourth to finish the inning with an 8-7 lead. The Dawgs added two  more runs in the fifth, followed by three Lincoln East runs in the sixth to once again tie the game at 10 going into the bottom of the sixth inning. North Platte scored the two runs that ultimately made the difference in the bottom of the sixth and held the Spartans scoreless in the seventh for the 12-10 win.

Chitty led the way for North Platte by going 3-4 with two runs batted in. Franzen and Keck each had a double and two RBI in the game. Franzen also scored three runs in the game along with fellow senior Hannah Hays.

Senior Marisa Ramos started the game inside the circle for the Bulldogs and went three and one-third innings, giving up seven runs, five earned, on six hits. She also had one strikeout and gave up on walk. Keck came in for the final three and two-third innings. She gave up three runs, all of them earned, on six hits, while walking two batters and striking out three.

The standout player for Lincoln East was its leadoff hitter Crist. She had three home runs in the game and six RBI.

North Platte is now 6-4 on the season and will next play at the McCook Invite Saturday morning. The Lady Dawgs will play Cozad in the first round at 9:00 am. The bracket for the tournament can be seen below.

The North Platte Bulldogs softball team made the short trip to Lexington on Tuesday and came home with a pair of wins, 13-1 and 13-5.

The Dawgs wasted no time jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning in game one of the doubleheader. North Platte then added eight more runs in the second inning, highlighted by a grand slam from senior Mikenzi Wiseman. It was Wiseman’s first home run of the season after leading the team last year with six. Lexington scored its lone run in the bottom of the second inning before North Platte added three more runs in the top of the third to take a 13-1 lead. Lexington failed to score in the bottom of the third and the game resulted in a 12-run rule win for North Platte.

Wiseman led the way by going 3-3 at the plate with the grand slam, four RBI and two runs scored. Senior Jenny Keck earned the win inside the circle by pitching two innings and giving up just one run on two hits. Freshman Avery Doucet came in for the final inning and shut down the Minutemaids without allowing a base runner and striking out two batters.

In game two North Platte jumped out to a 4-0 lead and senior pitcher Katie Franzen had a no-hitter through three innings before Lexington got the bats rolling and scored four runs in the fourth inning to tie the game. The Dawgs then scored nine more runs over the next three innings to take a 13-4 lead. The Minutemaids scored their final run in the bottom of the seventh for a final score of 13-5.

Wiseman had another good game at the plate with three hits, including a triple, an RBI and two runs scored, but Keck provided most of the offensive output. She went 4-5 with a double, 5 RBI and two runs scored. Keck also pitched two scoreless innings of relief and had three strikeouts

Franzen went four innings and gave up the four runs, three earned, on three hits. She also struck out two batters. Freshman Taylar Coleman came in for the final inning for North Platte and gave up one earned run, struck out one batter and walked one.

North Platte is now 5-3 on the season and will next play in a dual in Kearney. The Lady Dawgs will play Hastings at 5:00 pm Thursday, followed by a game with Lincoln East at 6:30 pm. The complete softball schedule can be seen on the North Platte Post Bulldogs Sports Zone.

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.

The North Platte Lady Bulldogs  began the 2014 season with a dominant 10-0 run-rule victory over Adams Central in Hastings Thursday.

The Lady Dawgs wasted no time by jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by a two-run double from clean-up hitter Kylie Engelman. North Platte added two runs in the second inning, one more in the third and finished with two runs in the fifth inning to go up 10-0. Senior catcher Mikenzi Wiseman delivered a two-out two-run double in the fifth inning to push the score to double digits.

Marisa Ramos led the way at the plate by going 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Katie Franzen started the game inside the circle and pitched the first two innings giving up just one hit while striking out two batters and walking one. Jenny Keck came on in relief and helped combine for the shutout. Keck pitched the final three innings and gave up three hits and one walk while striking out three batters.

Keck was pitching when Adams Central threatened to score in the fourth inning. The Lady Patriots had runners at second and third with no outs. Coach Les O’Donnell called time to tell his team they could get out of the inning without allowing a run. Keck then proceeded to induce a short flyball to right field, followed by a strikeout then finally a pop-up to the catcher to end the inning and the threat.

North Platte will travel to Hastings again on Thursday, August 28 to play Omaha Skutt and Omaha Gross. The Lady Bulldogs will play Skutt at 4:30 then Gross at 6:15. Both games can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410.