North Callaway overtakes No. 1 seed Harrisburg to advance to district title game

North Callaway had lost to Harrisburg twice this season but had a third chance.

The Ladybirds defeated No. 1 seed and state No. 3 Harrisburg 9-7 in eight innings in the Class 2 District 3 semifinals in Harrisburg. North Callaway (17-8) trailed 4-1 after three innings before taking tying the game in the fourth inning, taking the lead in the sixth inning and scoring two runs in the eighth inning.

All-state pitcher Megan Schmidt had a season-low five strikeouts against a Harrisburg (29-4) team that already had the school record in single-season wins and came in with an 11-game winning streak. Schmidt allowed seven unearned runs on nine hits and one walk in eight innings, and she finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and  solo home run. 

North Callaway 15 hits against all-state pitcher Camryn Gray. Kendra Pennell went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two doubles, London Fountain was 3-for-4 with one RBI. After Harrisburg tied the game with a three-RBI home run in the seventh inning, Pennell had a RBI double and Fountain had a RBI single in the eighth inning.

North Callaway's Nos. 1-4 hitters -- Mady Gordon, Schmidt, Sophie Olsson and Pennell -- were 9-for-20 with a combined six RBIs.

No. 4 seed North Callaway plays No. 3 seed Fayette (17-8) for the championship at 5 p.m. Monday in Harrisburg.

Community R-6 lose 4-3 on walk-off to Paris

Community R-6 scored more than its last meeting with Paris but not enough.

The Lady Trojans (20-13) lost 4-3 to Paris (19-9) in the Class 1 District 4 semifinals at Van-Far. The Lady Coyotes won their ninth straight game after a Bethany Levings groundout scored Ella Totten.

Totten led off the seventh inning with a single before being moved over to second by an Ava Crain bunt and to third by a passed ball. Paris was outhit 9-4 and managed to score two other runs without a hit.

Levings had a RBI double for the only Paris run scored via a hit. Raygen Crum had a RBI.

Community tied the game at 3 after scoring two runs in the seventh inning via Kaytlynn Arens RBI single and Ana McLeod walk. Myla Carroll finished 2-for-4 with one RBI, and Alexis Schafer was 2-for-3.

In the circle, Schafer pitched 6 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts, four hits, two earned runs and two walks. She also hit three batters. 

Ava Crain allowed one earned run in seven innings for Paris while scattering nine hits and two walks and striking out three.

Community finishes with its third 20-win season in four years, and Paris faces No. 1 seed and state No. 4 Silex (23-5). Paris last played Silex in a 2018 district game, which was a Silex win.

Van-Far scores 28 to win, then loses to No. 1 seed Silex

Van-Far had a memorable day before the season ended.

In games moved from Van-Far to Clopton on Friday due to weather, the Lady Indians played two Class 1 District 4 games in the same day. They beat Madison 28-11 before losing to No. 1 seed and state No. 4 Silex 11-5.

Van-Far (6-20) hadn't scored 20 runs in a game since a 22-6 win against Marion County in 2024. The Lady Indians finished with 22 hits in the same season they lost 12-9 to Madison (7-15) in the regular season. 

Kylee Gibson finished 4-for-5 with three RBIs, Ashlyn Marshall was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a double, Adrianna Craven went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a double, Bryanna Stanich was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and Kenya Jones finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Everybody in the lineup had at least one hit and six had at least one RBI. 

Van-Far scored three runs in the first inning against Silex but allowed all 11 runs in the first three innings. The Lady Indians had six errors while Silex had four errors.

All-state pitcher Rylan Harris pitched seven innings for Silex with nine strikeouts, seven hits, two earned runs and one walk. Gibson went 2-for-3 with one RBI against her, and Elliott Utterback went 2-for-4 with one RBI.

After Craven allowed no earned runs and had five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings against Madison, Ady Barnett allowed no earned runs on three hits and one walk against Silex.