By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With one swing of the bat Wednesday, Washburn Rural junior Kaci Bath made it a certainty that the Junior Blues were headed back to the Class 6A state softball tournament for the fourth straight season that the state tourney has been held.
Already in front 3-0 over Free State, Bath, the No. 9 hitter in Rural's lineup, blasted a grand slam over the left field fence in the third inning to give the Junior Blues a commanding 7-0 lead en route to an 8-0 victory over the Firebirds in the regional championship game at Gahnstrom Field.
Washburn Rural junior Kaci Bath launches a grand slam home run in the third inning of Wednesday's Class 6A regional championship game. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
Kaci Bath's Washburn Rural teammates wait to congratulate her after her third-inning grand slam Wednesday at Gahnstrom Field. [Photo by Doug Walker/Special to TSN]
"I knew the bases were loaded and I knew that I had to put the bat on the ball,'' Bath said. "I was just trying to do that for my team and not really focus on anything personally or mentally, just put the bat on the ball and try to score runs.''
Free State edged Rural 1-0 in the 2019 state championship game and the Firebirds took a 2-0 win over the Junior Blues in the 2018 state semifinals.
"Free State's a good team and they have a good reputation and they were the hardest team we were going to have to face today so we really brought our 'A' game,'' Bath said. "I think everyone did.''
After Bath hit her third home run of the season and the first grand slam of her career, Rural senior Campbell Bagshaw followed with a round-tripper of her own and the 21-1 Junior Blues cruised the rest of the way as junior Emmerson Cope threw a five-hit shutout with six strikeouts.
After stranding runners at second and third in the bottom of the first Rural broke through for three runs in the second as senior Mikaila Herring delivered a three-run double.
After Trenna Whitmore got on base with a one-out single in the third, a Free State error and a walk loaded the bases for Bath, who promptly cleared the bases before Bagshaw gave the Junior Blues consecutive homers.
Free State had two baserunners in both the third and fifth innings but Cope got out of both innings without any damage.
"I think we played really well,'' Bath said. "I think we strung our hits together really well and I think we played together as a team and we kept our energy up.''
Bagshaw, Cope and Whitmore all had two hits for the Junior Blues who have won their last 15 games.
"The goal was to play our best softball today no matter what,'' Washburn Rural coach Liz Stover said. "I feel like the bats are starting to come alive and there's always things that can get better, but I think we're doing our best right now.''
Washburn Rural advanced to the regional final with a 9-1 semifinal win over Campus while Free State beat Liberal 11-1 in the first semifinal.
Washburn Rural will compete in the 6A state tournament on May 26-27 at the Shawnee Mission District Softball Complex.
Rural dropped a 5-2 first-round decision to Olathe North in the 2021 state tournament.
Class 6A Regional Softball
Championship game
WASHBURN RURAL 8, FREE STATE 0
Free State 000 000 0 -- 0 5 2
Washburn Rural 035 000 x -- 8 8 0
W -- Cope. L -- K. Richardson. 2B -- Washburn Rural: Herring, Cope. HR -- Washburn Rural: Bath, Bagshaw.
