By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Mayor’s Cup softball crown still belongs to the Lady Cougars following a two-game sweep that saw Salina South stave off two late Central comebacks to earn wins of 4-2 and 6-3.
Game One: Salina South 4, Salina Central 2
The opener of this two-game set was a pitchers duel throughout, with South’s Paityn Fritz and Central’s Valerie VanZant dealing for seven innings.
Offensively, VanZant would be the one to get the Lady Mustangs on the board, coming around to score on a passed ball in the second inning for the game's first run.
In the circle, VanZant would record 13 strikeouts, and looked unhittable the first time through the order, but in the fourth, Salina South straightened out the bats, tying the game on a Chloe Helsel single before stranding the bases loaded.
Neither team scored in the fifth, but in the sixth, Helsel struck again, this time scoring two on an RBI double to the fence before coming in to score herself on an RBI triple from Brylee Moss.
The Lady Mustangs would plate a second run in the seventh but left the tying run at second as South claimed game one.
Paityn Fritz picked up her fifth win of the season in the circle, allowing just one earned run, striking out eight while walking just three.
Game Two: Salina South 6, Salina Central 3
South was quicker to get on the board in game number two, scoring two runs in just four batters to lead off the home half of the first.
Breckon Webb would follow that up with a solo home run in the second inning to put the Lady Cougars up 3-0, but in the visitors’ third, Central finally broke through on another RBI single by VanZant.
Paityn Fritz’s second hit of the game, this time an RBI double to bring in Mackenzie Langer, pushed the lead back out to three where it would sit until the top of the fifth.
Another pair of RBI knocks for Macy Yost and Brylee Moss would help put this game out of reach as the Lady Mustangs stranded the bases loaded in the seventh, ending the game 6-3.
Macy Yost claimed the win in the circle, allowing just three runs on four hits and adding three strikeouts to her total.
With this sweep, Salina South improves to 11-3 while Central slides to 9-3.
The Lady Mustangs return to Salina to host Hutch on Tuesday while the Lady Cougars travel to Maize to battle the Eagles.