Centralia had the top seed and a win over its district opponent Hallsville going into the Class 3 District 4 first round on Wednesday in Macon.
The state No. 2 Lady Panthers lost 3-1 to their rival and No. 8 seed Hallsville (12-12) to bring their season to an end with a 23-5 record. Centralia finished with six hits against Madilynn Carmichael, who pitched seven innings with six strikeouts, four walks and one run. Centralia's one run was scored on a Jaylynn Brown RBI double to tie the game in the third inning before Shanann Bradley hit a two-RBI go-ahead triple in the sixth inning. Brown pitched seven innings with eight strikeouts, eight hits, three runs and one walk.
Hallsville picked up its first district victory over Centralia for the first time since 2009 after four previous district losses to the Lady Panthers. Prior to Wednesday, Centralia had scored one run or fewer five times. The team won one game 1-0 against Class 2 state-ranked Highland but lost 1-0 to Class 3 No. 1 Oak Grove, 9-1 to Class 4 state-ranked Kearney, and 3-1 and 15-1, respectively to Class 5 state-ranked teams Lee's Summit and Neosho.
"We played too tight," head coach Liz Bostick said. "That's the bottom line. We had something to lose, and they didn't. I told the girls, 'Everyone is going to come up against like they have nothing to lose so you have to play like you own the game.'"
Centralia achieved its second straight 20-win this season while winning its third straight Clarence Cannon Conference championship.
Look for full season recap story in the Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, edition of the Mexico Ledger.
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