Trenton Bests The Field At The Nan Carter Classic

For the second year in a row, the Trenton Lady Bulldogs are the NCMC Nan Carter Classic champions. Trenton went 4-0 on Saturday, topping Marceline 11-2 in the championship game.
Trenton scored pool play victories of 10-2 over South Harrison, 4-2 over Richmond and 7-1 over Jefferson to win its pool and set up the showdown with Marceline for the title. The biggest moment in pool play, and really the entire tournament for Trenton, came in the second pool play game against Richmond.
Trenton found itself tied with the Lady Spartans at 2-2 in the fifth inning when the time limit expired. Jaylen Neff reached base with a walk in the bottom of the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ainsley Tolson. That’s when Salem Croy ended the game with a walk-off, two-run home run, her second clutch home run of the week. Croy finished the game one-for-three with three RBIs, having also driven in Neff with a ground out in the first inning.
Tolson, who had a second-inning RBI single to score Mykah Hurley, picked up the win in the circle, throwing all five innings, allowing two runs on four hits.
The rest of pool play was pretty uneventful with Trenton handling South Harrison and Jefferson. Against South Harrison, Trenton responded to a first-inning run by their opponents with one of their own in the bottom of the frame and then the Lady Bulldogs plated five more runs in the third and four in the fourth to put the game away.
Whitley Richman was two-for-three to lead Trenton’s offense against South Harrison and McKayla Blackburn was the winning pitcher, allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out four.
Against Jefferson, Trenton again surrendered the first run of the game in the opening frame, but once again came back to turn the game into a blowout. Two Jefferson errors in the third inning led to two Trenton runs and Taylor Richman drove in another to give the Lady Bulldogs a 3-1 edge. Trenton plated another in the fourth when Hurley drove in Jayden Roeder and then put the game away with a three-run fifth inning that saw Taylor Richman drive in two more runs with a double and an RBI single by Roeder.
Taylor Richman finished the game three-for-three with three RBIs and Roeder was two-for-two with two runs scored and an RBI. Hurley was two-for-three with an RBI. Tolson took the win, throwing six innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out six.
In the title game, Trenton jumped on Marceline quickly in the top of the first inning. Neff drew a leadoff walk, Tolson singled and Croy, Whitley Richman and Mason Hooyman all followed with RBI singles to put Trenton up 4-0. The Lady Bulldogs scored three more in the second inning when Tenna Roberts singled to lead off the inning and then scored on a two-run shot by Neff. Taylor Richman doubled home McKayla Blackburn, pinch running for Tolson.
In the fourth inning, Whitley Richman drove home Lexi Whitaker to push the Trenton lead to 8-0. Marceline got on the board in the bottom of the fifth but Trenton answered with a run in the top of the sixth on a single by Croy to score Tolson, who doubled earlier. After another Marceline run in the bottom of the sixth, Trenton got runs from Shayla Woodside and Hurley in the seventh to give the title to Trenton for the second year in a row.
“Tournaments are long, difficult days and I’m proud of the girls for finding the energy to focus and play well four different times,” Lady Bulldogs’ Head Coach John Cowling said. “Our depth helps us on days like this. We were able to get positive contributions from every spot in our lineup.”
This was the sixth year in a row Trenton reached the championship game of the Nan Carter Classic. The Lady Bulldogs also won the title in 2015, 2012 and 2011. Trenton was runner-up at the event in 2013 and 2014.
The Lady Bulldogs moved to 17-0 overall on the season with the four wins. Trenton will be back on the diamond on Thursday, playing on the road in the Grand River Conference championship game. The contest at Stanberry is set for a 5:30 p.m. first pitch.