Centralia has grand 11-1 Senior Night win vs Palmyra

By Jeremy Jacob, Sports Editor
Posted 10/8/22

Centralia started small but then went big Thursday.

In the Lady Panthers’ Senior Night game, they defeated Clarence Cannon Conference foe Palmyra 11-1 in five innings. Madi Johnson hit a …

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Centralia has grand 11-1 Senior Night win vs Palmyra

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Centralia started small but then went big Thursday.

In the Lady Panthers’ Senior Night game, they defeated Clarence Cannon Conference foe Palmyra 11-1 in five innings. Madi Johnson hit a grand slam for a four-run sixth inning, Kaelyn Walters added a two-RBI home run in the fifth inning, and seniors Harper Sontheimer and Autumn Hawkins each finished with two hits, with Sontheimer driving in two runs.

Walters struck out five while allowing one run on five hits and three walks in five innings.

After falling behind 1-0 to Palmyra (10-14, 3-4 CCC), Centralia took a 1-0 lead on singles by Ellie Page and Tilly Fox. Those same two reached base after senior Meredith Wright’s single in the third inning, setting up for Johnson’s grand blast. Sontheimer picked up two RBI hits the rest of the way, and senior Jaelyn Vega had an RBI single in the fifth inning.

Lady Panthers' scattered hits not enough to defeat state-ranked Hallsville, lose 7-2

The offense was there for Centralia on Tuesday, but the runs didn’t emerge.

The Lady Panthers finished with nine hits at home in a rematch with Class 3 No. 4 and district foe Hallsville — one short of the Lady Indians total — but lost 7-2 after dropping the third-place game in a tournament 5-2 to Hallsville. Madysen Lucas and Meredith Blakemore each hit a home run for Hallsville while Harper Sontheimer picked up her second long ball of the season and in as many games.

Tilly Fox finished 3-for-4 and was the only Lady Panther with multiple hits. Centralia had three pitchers throw, with Kaelyn Walters starting with eight hits and four runs in four innings and Meredith Wright and Madi Johnson finishing the final three innings with an earned run on two hits.

Walters tied the game at 1 in the second inning on a pop fly that dropped in only to leave two runners on base in a one-out situation. Hallsville (19-3) had a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning, thanks partly to a two-RBI home run by Lucas in the third inning, and Centralia had the bases loaded with two outs after Jozelynn Bostick was hit by a pitch. The Lady Panthers had two more runners on with two outs in the fifth inning after Fox’s single but didn’t score.

Sontheimer homered to lead off the seventh inning, but Centralia was only able to muster two more hits against Haley Martin, who struck out seven in three innings of relief.

Centralia (16-12) plays its regular season finale at Class 3 No. 9 Bowling Green (18-8) on Monday before hosting the Class 3 District 4 Tournament, playing its first game as the No. 5 seed against No. 5 seed and Class 3 No. 10 Southern Boone (14-10) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.


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