FAYETTEVILLE -- The Rose Bud Lady Ramblers got big games from two seniors to claim their second state title in four years, defeating the Genoa Central Lady Dragons 7-3 for the Class 3A state softball championship at Bogle Park on Monday.
"I am really happy for the girls," Rose Bud Coach Scotty Starkey said. "They came ready to play, and they did their job."
Third baseman Joley Mitchell was 3 for 3 with 4 runs scored and 3 RBI, including a home run. Pitcher Gracie Hartle gave up three hits while striking out seven with no walks. Hartle was named MVP.
"Gracie has been phenomenal all season," Starkey said. "She ended up with a 26-1 record. That's pretty special. Our only loss was to [Class 5A champion] Sheridan, so I couldn't be any more proud of her.
"And Joley was just being Joley. That home run was special. That gave her the all-time state record at 58 for her career. That's how she's been all year and all her career, actually."
While Hartle has yet to sign anywhere, Mitchell will continue her softball career at Notre Dame.
Both have been starters for the Lady Ramblers (35-1) since they were freshmen and led Rose Bud to its first of four consecutive finals appearances in 2016 when the Lady Ramblers lost to Bald Knob 1-0. They defeated Bald Knob 6-4 for the 2017 championship, then fell 4-2 in nine innings to Benton Harmony Grove last year.
It looked like Rose Bud was well on its way to winning the title by jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. Mitchell led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk. She stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch. Then with one out, Hope Hartle belted a double to the wall in left field and scored on a single down the third-base line by Gracie Hartle.
With two outs in the bottom of the second, Briley Chandler doubled to center, then scored on a double by Mitchell. Kameron Pierce's triple drove in Mitchell to make it 4-0.
The Lady Dragons (17-16) finally got things going in the top of the fourth. Raegan Keith led off with a single to left before Madison Banister singled. The two runners moved up on a passed ball before a single to left by Kelsey Mattson scored Keith, a sacrifice fly to left by Josie Walls scored Banister, and a groundout by Braylee Hagan scored Mattson to cut the deficit to 4-3.
After that inning, Starkey had a little heart-to-heart with his team.
"I just told them that now we know that they are not going to lay down for us," Starkey said. "Go out there and do your thing.
"We felt pretty good when we got those four runs, which is usually a safe lead for us. But that's a good team over there. They didn't back down, so we had to go out there and answer and we did."
Rose Bud got two of those runs back in the bottom of the fourth. Chandler singled to left with one out, then Mitchell followed that with a two-run home run to make it 6-3.
The Lady Ramblers added a run in the sixth when Mitchell led off with a single and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Rose Bud finished with 11 hits, three each by Mitchell and Gracie Hartle. Chandler had two.
Sports on 05/21/2019