The LRC softball Tournament concluded Tuesday at the Firelake ballfields with some very close games.

New Lima Falconettes, Strother Lady Yellowjackets and the Varnum Lady Whippets were still battling it out for the championship.

The Lady Falcons faced the Macomb Lady Hornets Tuesday and won 8-5 to advance. New Lima took on the Moss Lady Pirates next and fell in a very close game as the Falconettes were rallying back in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t enough for the win. Moss won 7-5.

Varnum and Strother battled it out in an undefeated game to start the day.

The Lady Whippets went to bat first to start the game but ended up scoreless in the frame. The Lady Yellowjackets had no answer in the first and went three and out.

Varnum got on the board first with a single run by Timilyn Morgan on a ground ball.

Strother answered right back with a run of their own with Ludie Barrett-Higgins scoring on a ground ball.

After two outs, Varnum’s Riley Batchelor scored on a pop fly to help the Lady Whippets regain the lead. The Lady Jackets took the lead at the bottom of the second when Brooklyn Turner and Geneva Reynolds scored on an error.

Varnum fell into a slump in the 4th and 5th innings, going scoreless. The Lady Jackets took advantage and extended their lead with a run by Barrett-Higgins in the fourth and a run by Taos Tinsley in the fifth.

The Lady Whippets found their momentum at the top of the sixth when Karsyn Lowery and Miley Wildcat scored on an error.

Varnum had closed the gap by one run, but the Lady Jackets still had the lead at the end of the sixth.

The Lady Whippets went to bat in the final inning and regained the lead with a homerun by Faith Madkins who knocked in runners Kalea Miller and Batchelor. Strother struggled again on offense in the seventh and went three and out.

The Varnum Lady Whippets won the game 7-5. The Lady Whippets waited for the matchup between Strother and Moss for a possible championship.

Pitching for Strother was Adrienne Hagy who pitched seven innings, allowing seven runs, one walk and striking out one.

Pitching for Varnum was Jenna Lofton who pitched seven innings, allowing five runs, three walks and striking out two.

The Strother Lady Yellowjackets faced the Moss Lady Pirates for a chance to face Varnum again, but things didn’t fall their way. Moss overpowered the Lady Jackets and won 6-3.

The Championship stage was set between the undefeated #15 Varnum Lady Whippets and the # 10 Moss Lady Pirates.

The break the Lady Whippets had waiting for the winner of the Strother / Moss game lasted too long as Varnum could not find their rhythm and was shutout in the game with a final score of 9-0 Moss.

The two teams now had to play a back-to-back game to determine the championship.

Varnum went to bat first and lit up the scoreboard when Karsyn Lowery scored on a ground ball to help Varnum take the lead. Moss answered back with two runs to take the lead.

Varnum struggled on offense in the next three innings and fell further behind as the Lady Pirates scored a run in the second and two more runs at the bottom of the fourth.

The Lady Whippets were down by four runs heading into the fifth inning. Lowry scored a run on a pop fly to light up the score board for Varnum but could not add any more runs.

The Lady Pirates scored four more runs at the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach.

Varnum had one more try at the top of the seventh but went three and out. The Moss Lady Pirates won the Championship as the Varnum Lady Whippets won the Runner Up Championship.

Pitching for Varnum was Jenna Lofton who pitched six innings, allowing nine runs, one walk and striking out zero. Lofton pitched all three games Tuesday for a total of 19 innings.

Next up for the Bowlegs Lady Bison is an away game at Moss on the 13th. The next home game is on the 14th against Macomb. The game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. with the junior high starting first.

Next up for the New Lima Falconettes is the Wetumka Tournament this weekend. The next home game is on the 20th against Wewoka. The game is set to start at 4:30 p.m. with the junior high starting first.

Next up for the Strother Lady Yellowjackets is a home game today at 4:30 p.m. against Earlsboro. The junior high will start things off.

Next up for the Varnum Lady Whippets is a home game on the 13th against Macomb.

The game is set to start at 4:30 p.m. with the junior high starting first.

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