by Jeremy Benson, Grand River Conference Media LLC
The Princeton Lady Tigers are coming off a Final Four appearance in 2025, finishing 4th. The Gallatin Lady Bulldogs also appeared in the Final Four, finishing 2nd.
The two met at the Putnam County Tournament on Saturday with a tournament title on the line.
The Lady Tigers won their pool with a 24-1 win over Milan and an 8-1 win over Brookfield, while the Lady Bulldogs won their pool with a 19-3 win over La Plata and an 8-5 win over Schuyler County.
The Clark County Lady Indians joined Gallatin and Princeton in the Championship Pool, where each team would face each other.
Gallatin faced Clark County with Georgie Youtsey making her varsity debut as a freshman for the Lady Bulldogs. Youtsey had a shutout through five innings but surrendered a 2-run home run by the Lady Indians' Cadence Morss. Despite the home run, Youtsey was able to record the win 8-2 over Clark County.
Paige Heldenbrand broke open the game in the 4th inning with a bases-loaded clearing double to put Gallatin up 8-0 completing a 5-run 4th. The Lady Bulldogs got on the board in the 1st when Tagen Eversole and Izzy Sprague scored on an error by Clark County's Chloe Shatley. Gallatin added another run in the 2nd before their 5-run 4th. Youtsey was named the United Country Real Estate GRC Media Player of the Game for her performance on the mound.
Gallatin faced Princeton next. Princeton was up 2-1 going into the 4th inning when they scored 5 runs. A two-run single by Aniston Power and an RBI double by Kaydence Stockman were the key hits in the inning. The Lady Tigers were not done in the 6th inning when Mary Jane Renfro had a two-run double followed by Power hitting her 4th home run of the season. The Lady Tigers won 13-1.
The Tigers had 17 hits, with six players recording multiple hits. Power, Renfro, Stockman and Mazey Allen had three hits apiece. Riley Clark and Ainsley Cowan recorded two each, while Evan Boxley recorded an RBI single.
In addition to the three hits, Renfro pitched a 2-hitter, which earned her the United Country Real Estate GRC Media Player of the Game.
With the win over Gallatin, Princeton would capture the championship with a win over Clark County. The Lady Tigers controlled the game from the start with a 4-run 1st inning. Power and Shayden Berndt both collected RBI singles in the inning. Two more runs were scored in the 2nd on a passed ball and a bases-loaded walk to Allen. The Lady Tigers would go up 9-1 after a single tally in the 3rd and two more in the 5th. Clark County was able to get a run in the first and two more in the 6th to make the final score 9-3.
Power had another 3 hits to earn the United Country Real Estate GRC Media Player of the Game. Clark added two hits, and Renfro, Allen, and Berndt each had one.
I caught up with Princeton coach Mike Schmidli after the game to talk about the Lady Tigers' tournament title.
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