Centralia comes out of home meet with several winners

A Centralia runner crossed the finish line first in several races on Tuesday night.

It was fitting for the Panthers and Lady Panthers as it was the Centralia Invitational at Centralia Country Club that saw Rohan Holiman and Kenedee Moss win the varsity boys and girls 5,000 meters, and Nolan Spickert win the middle school 3,200 meters. Holiman broke his own school record that he set earlier this season with a winning time of 16:45.20.

Holiman wasn’t the only one that had a big role in helping the Centralia boys win first place by a sizable margin — the Panthers had 20 points compared to Macon's 101 points in second place. Dryst Bostick and Carter Moss also finished in the top three out of 100 runners in second and third, respectively, with times of 17:05 and 17:09. The other Centralia boys who medaled in the top 20 were Eli Hill in sixth with a 17:52, Wesley Robertson in eighth with a 18:14, Trenton Brooks in 11th with a 18:23, Zane Deckerd in 19th with a 18:56 and Lane Chancellor in 20th with a 18:58.

Kenedee Moss was the girls 5,000-meter winner for Centralia as she had a time of 20:11. Shelby Lewis wasn’t too far behind in fifth out of 76 runners at 21:05, Rylee Palmer was 13th with a 22:29 and Chezney Baker was 17th with a 23:11.

Spickert won the boys middle school race with a time of 11:27 as the Panthers were seventh out of 10 schools with 167 points.

Centralia softball season ends 90 feet away in 3-2 district loss to Macon

Macon proved to be more difficult the third time around for Centralia on Thursday.

The Lady Panthers lost 3-2 in the opening round of the Class 3 District 4 tournament in Macon to their Clarence Cannon Conference foe despite having Madi Johnson waiting at third base to score the tying run. Johnson hit a one-out triple in the seventh inning, but Macon held Centralia to pay back 8-0 and 2-1 losses earlier this season.

Centralia didn’t hit its way on base until the third inning when Johnson hit a single. Johnson reached base every time she stepped up the plate, finishing 3-for-3 with a walk and a two-RBI home run in the fifth inning. 

The Lady Panthers stranded Cora King at second base in the fifth inning, following Johnson’s second home run in as many games and third homer in her previous six games. Johnson then wasn’t able to score in the seventh inning after Ellie Page hit a liner into the shortstop’s glove. 

Payton Weimer kept Centralia behind through seven innings pitched with five hits, four strikeouts, three walks and two earned runs.

Macon (18-9) had all the runs it needed after the third inning when two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly followed a single and double to lead off the inning.

In her final game as a Lady Panther, senior Kaelyn Walters pitched seven innings with 10 strikeouts, six hits, four walks and three earned runs.

Centralia finishes the season with a 18-10 overall record and a 7-0 conference record that earned them its first conference title since 2017.