By Rick Peterson
TopSports.news
WICHITA -- Shawnee Heights softball and sophomore pitcher Grace Proctor wrapped up a strong Class 5A state tournament performance Friday, with the eighth-seeded T-Birds rallying in the sixth innning to take a 2-0 win over Salina South in the third-place game at Wilkins Stadium.
Shawnee Heights sophomore Grace Proctor threw a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts in Friday's win over Salina South in the Class 5A third-place game. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
Shawnee Heights sophomore Taylor Brees had the T-Birds' first hit and scored the game's first run in Friday's 2-0 win over Salina South. [Photo by Selena Favela/Special to TSN]
"It's definitely a surprise and it's a good surprise,'' said Shawnee Heights coach Tara Griffith, whose T-Birds only had two seniors on their 2023 roster.
Proctor twirled a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts for her second state tournament win while Shawnee Heights went 2-1 at state to cap a 17-8 season, with their lone loss a 4-3 decision to Goddard Eisenhower in a semifinal earlier Friday.
In Friday's third-place game, Proctor and Salina South senior Araceli Rivas hooked up in a pitching duel, with Proctor not allowing a hit until the bottom of the fifth and Rivas, who had 16 strikeouts, not giving up a T-Bird hit until the sixth.
Shawnee Heights broke through to do all of its damage with a two-out rally in the sixth, scoring both of its runs and collecting all three of its hits in the inning.
Sophomore Tyler Brees led all the inning with a single, followed by junior Audrey Schulte with a bloop single that got past the Cougar fielder, allowing Brees to come around to score.
"Our girls showed a lot of grit,'' Griffith said. "Give a lot of credit to that gal (Rivas). She was throwing some really good stuff, lots of movement. It was tough and our girls made an adjustment and kind of got there.''
Junior Alaryce Adams followed with a RBI double to score Schulte and Proctor and the T-Birds made the two runs stand up over the final six outs.
South went out one-two-three in the sixth and coaxed a one-out walk in the seventh before Proctor ended the game with a strikeout and a groundout.
Shawnee Heights took a 2-0 lead in the semifinal off a Adams two-run homer and led 3-1 before Eisenhower rallied for the win, getting a walkoff game-winning single from sophomore Karli George.
Valley Center won its second straight state title, taking a 16-8 win over Eisenhower in the championship game.
SHAWNEE HEIGHTS 2, SALINA SOUTH 0
Shawnee Heights (17-8) 000 002 0 -- 2 4 0
Salina South (16-9) 000 000 0 -- 0 1 0
Proctor and and Habig. Rivas and Bartley, Newman. W -- Proctor. L -- Rivas. 2B -- Shawnee Heights: Adams, Bowman.
