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Valley Center celebrates after claiming third place at the 5A state softball tournament May 26 in Wichita.

Hornets third at state softball
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: June 01, 2017

A few minutes before Valley Center High School played its first game in the Class 5A state softball tournament May 25, coach Corey Jones was asked what the Hornets would have to do to win the game.

Jones replied, "Hit ‘em where they ain't and run like the wind."

The girls must have been listening because that's exactly what happened May 25 and 26. The Hornets opened with a 5-0 win over the defending state champion. They grabbed an early lead in the semifinals before losing 8-2 to this year's eventual champs. And they came right back to post a 10-2 win in the third-place game.

"We've been here three times," said Ashley Thorne. "We've had so much experience. We just wanted to stay positive and end our season with a win. That's what was so great about getting third place. We just played really hard and for each other."

Valley Center finished the season 21-4. That equaled the school's best softball record set in 1997, when the Hornets were second at state.

Third-time charm — The third-place game against Mill Valley got off to a scary start. The first batter to face Ashlyn Jacobs lined one hard off her neck, dropping her to her knees.

"I thought I was going to have to come out of the game," she said. "After a few minutes, it was OK. It just felt numb, but I was fine."

"That really worried me," Thorne said. "She scared me. I thought she was going to come out of the game. But she's really tough and she pushed through."

Jacobs got up and went to work, retiring the next three batters.

From there, it was no contest, as the Hornets scored eight runs in the second. Leading 1-0, LaTaylah Perez doubled to plate a second run. After a walk, Thorne singled to bring in two more. Taylor Rowley followed with an RBI single, Kaylee Burnett doubled in a run, and Jacobs helped her own cause with a two-run double.

In the third, a sacrifice fly by Wylie Glover and a Thorne single made it 10-0.

"We hit the ball hard and we put it in play," Jones said. "We were on base a lot. We probably should have had more runs, if you think about it, but I'll take it."

After the game-opening line-drive single, Jacobs set down the next 11 Jaguars before yielding two runs in the fourth. Jacobs then closed out the game by retiring 10 of the last 11 batters, including the last eight. She allowed five hits, struck out one, walked none and recorded 16 fly ball outs.

"For her to come back, that was awesome," Jones said. "She pitched a great game and never really flinched."

Thorne had three hits and three RBI, while Jacobs knocked in a pair of runs.

"That's why this group of girls are who they are," Jones said. "They weren't going to go down without swinging. They were going to go up there and give it their all."

Champs too much — Valley Center took on Shawnee Heights, the undefeated No. 1 seed, in the semifinals. For a while, the Hornets looked as if they would repeat their first-round victory.

Alli Burke and Perez opened the game by slapping their way on base. Glover and Thorne each followed with an RBI single for a quick 2-0 lead.

But just as quickly as the Hornets struck, things went south. Valley had runners at second and third with one out. Rowley lined out to the shortstop, who doubled Thorne off second to end the inning. Jones thought that was the turning point in the game.

"We're looking to get four runs there," he said. "Instead, they get a double play and get out of it. Yeah, we scored two, but the momentum went back to them."

Unfortunately, the euphoria of being up on the top team in the state was short-lived. Shawnee Heights edged in front with three runs in the second and never trailed.

The Thunderbirds put the game away with four in the third. They added one in the sixth for the final score of 8-2. Shawnee Heights run-ruled its other two opponents, winning 12-0 in the quarterfinals and 10-0 in the finals.

After the first inning, the Hornets had only two baserunners the rest of the game. Burke sprinted out an infield hit in the second, and Emma Meyer reached on an error in the fifth.

Burnett went the distance and took the loss for Valley.

"I think we had a little bit of nerves because we've never made it to the second day," Thorne said. "We were just a little uptight."

Seaman again — In their first game, the Hornets got revenge against Seaman, which had beaten them in the first round the last two years. This time, it was Valley's turn to advance, winning 5-0.

"We did pretty well," Jones said. "We hit the ball hard in some spots. We moved some runners. … We made them make plays. They messed up a couple of times."

The Hornets set a trend of scoring early in the tournament with four in the top of the first. Perez skimmed a one-out single between short and third. Glover placed a grounder perfectly between the first and second basemen. Both scored on Rowley's two-out triple to right. Burnett's homerun to center staked her to a 4-0 lead before she even got into the circle.

In the third, Perez reached base on a dropped third strike and stole second. She came around to score on a wild pitch and a throwing error for the final run.

"I'm so happy to be on this team and I love every single one of them," Perez said. "We play as a team, and we play competitive."

After losing to Seaman in each of the last two years, Burnett was on this time.

"It gave me a lot of motivation," she said. "I was less nervous this year. My defense knew what to expect. I knew what to expect. We were ready for it."

She tossed a three-hit shutout, walked two and struck out 10.

"With Kaylee's pitching, that game was pretty much a domination," Jones said. "Emma did a very nice job behind the plate helping her out. The defense, when needed, stepped up and made the plays."

Seaman's only threat came in the sixth when it put runners on second and third with one out. Burnett got a fly ball and a strikeout to end the inning. She struck out the side in the seventh.

"That was a big strikeout (to end the sixth)," Jones said. "Took away any momentum they thought they might have going into the seventh. To get three strikeouts in the top of the seventh, that's pretty good. Usually you're pretty tired."

Valley Center also won the AVCTL II for the first time since 2008.

"We had a pretty good group of girls," Jones said. "It was really fun to coach them. We're all proud of what this team did this year."






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