BY ANTHONY GORGES
Salina Post Contributor
The Chapman Lady Irish held off Andale/Garden Plain in the Sub-state championship game on Tuesday night in Chapman and are headed to the 4A State Tournament in Salina next week.
It will be their first appearance in the state tournament since 2016.
4A Regional Semifinal: Chapman 6, Concordia 2
Chapman scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning to jump ahead 1-0 over Concordia. The Lady Panthers responded in the top of the second with two runs and led 2-1 over the Irish.
The game then became a pitcher’s duel with Madalynn Harold in the circle for Chapman and Jaylin Roush in the circle for Concordia.
The Lady Irish left the bases loaded to end the fourth, and Concordia still led by one run. In the bottom of the fifth, Chapman delivered.
The Lady Irish scored five runs and took a 6-2 lead. Chapman held on to win and advanced to play Andale/Garden Plain in the 4A West #2 Regional championship.
4A Regional Championship: Chapman 5, Andale/Garden Plain 3
Similar to the semifinal game, the Lady Irish started the scoring with one run in the bottom of the first.
Pitchers for both teams settled in, with Madalynn Harold back in the circle for Chapman and Jayna Lies in the circle for Andale/Garden Plain.
Chapman added two runs in the third, to lead 3-0 after three. In the fourth, Andale/Garden Plain left the bases loaded, as Harold struck out Elsie Johnson to end the inning. The Lady Irish scored two runs in the fifth to lead 5-0.
Andale/Garden Plain was not done yet, as a couple of pinch hitters came up clutch for the Indians in the top of the sixth. Quickly, it was a two-run game with Chapman leading 5-3.
The Indians left runners stranded at second and third to end the inning.
In the seventh inning, Madalynn Harold shut the Indians down in order, and Chapman held on to win 5-3.
Chapman scored five runs on nine hits. In the circle, Harold pitched all seven innings and recorded 12 strikeouts in the sub-state championship game.
On the day, Harold pitched 13 of the 14 innings and recorded a total of 23 strikeouts.
Chapman advances to the 4A State Tournament next week in Salina. It is the Irish first trip to the State Tournament since 2016 when they placed third.