IRWIN — A season that witnessed steady improvement came to an end Friday for the Panorama softball team as Class 2A No. 2 IKM-Manning posted an 8-1 victory in their Region 3 Semifinal.[wpedon id=”85410″ align=”left”]
The win will allow the Wolves (24-2) to host Earlham (26-11) Monday at 7 p.m. with a trip to the state tournament on the line. Earlham was a 4-1 winner over host Ogden Friday in their semifinal.
Panorama bows out at 11-12 after finishing 5-17 last season. The Panthers trailed, 4-0, after four innings, with the Wolves having scored once in the first and third frames and twice in the fourth.
Claire Woodworth singled in the fifth for Panorama, with pinch runner Ashley Clark racing around to score when Kellie Prince singled to left field, where the ball was booted, allowing for additional bases. Lydia Knapp reached on an error on the third baseman, but Prince was nailed at the plate trying to score from second base on the overthrow to leave the score at 4-1.
IKM-Manning capped the scoring with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, with Panorama unable to mount a rally in their final at-bat. A single from Kennedy Anderson was the only other hit for the Panthers.
Grace Richey tossed all six innings, allowing eight runs on 10 hits and three walks. She finished with one strikeout.[wpedon id=”85410″ align=”left”]
Peyton Gross scattered three hits and four walks in yielding the one unearned run in seven frames from the ring. The Wolves’ ace recorded nine strikeouts.
Gross aided her own cause with a double and three RBIs, with Paige Gaskill adding a double and a RBI while Payton Sporrer was 3-for-3 with three RBIs.
Prince and Nicole Rolfes had their prep careers end with the loss.
