A 3-0 deficit after the first half wasn’t enough to keep Daniel Boone’s junior softball team from their second straight trip to the Little League World Series.
Indiana State’s FA minor league champions Floyd County’s Floyd Boone beat Indiana State’s Daniel Boone with three defensive gems to preserve their 4-3 win and the 2022 Central District Championship.
Maely Martin scored the game-winning run with Keelee Hagler’s song at the bottom of fifth to lift Daniel Boone.
The win broke Daniel Boone’s 4-0 championship record, as the Missouri state champion won four games in five days, defeating Michigan, Iowa and Ohio to reach the regional title game against Indiana.
With Friday’s championship approaching, Daniel Boone had only allowed two runs in his first three matches together. Those runs came in a 5-2 win over Ohio on Thursday.
Since last year:Colombia’s Daniel Boone loses in the Little League Softball World Series semi-finals and wins the consolation match
Indiana matched that in the first inning with two singles, doubles, Walk and Fault. Missouri trailed 3-1 after the first half. Hagler hit a pop fly which led to Hailey Clark’s record error to cut into Indiana’s lead.
After pinning Indiana goalless for the next three rounds, the stage was set for Elaine Bostick.
The two-game singles Bostick tied the match at 3 in the fourth inning. She finished the tournament game by hitting 1 vs. 2 with two RBIs and a walk. Bostick finished the regional championship with five stars and six strokes.
At the bottom of the fifth set, Hagler led her RBI single to achieve the starting cue. Grace Kempf started the inning with a walk, and Martin entered as a disc runner for Kempf. Martin’s running record as a pinch runner.
This sequence of events led to a tense sixth run to close the game.
Indiana has two singles runners; That puts the potential link playback on at the second base and registers the green light at the start.
Riley Ellsworth had Indiana fly in and out to win the match and the regional championship. Ella Perkins tracked down the final, stumbling on the pop-up that would have gone down in play and probably tied the match at 4 had you not played a clutch defense.
Ellsworth monument gem to lead Daniel Boone. She threw 5 2/3 innings on 107 throws, hitting four while walking with only one hit. She allowed eight hits but didn’t give up a single round, whether she earned it or not.
In the game where Indiana Youth Missouri was 11-6, Daniel Boone made fewer mistakes.
The title secures a place for Daniel Boone in the Little League World Series as the Central Champion.
Next time, Missouri will play Mid-Atlantic champion Delmar Little League of Maryland.
That game is scheduled for 8 a.m. August 9 in Greenville, North Carolina.
Chris Koizinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, and he oversees sports coverage for the University of Missouri and Boone County. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 573-815-1857.