STERLING, Kan. – The MACU Softball team pulled out a dramatic 3-2 victory over rival Southwestern Christian in the semifinal, but came up just short in a hard-fought 4-2 defeat to top-seeded Sterling in the NCCAA Central Region Championship game at Sterling High School on Tuesday afternoon.
 
GAME ONE / Mid-America Christian vs. Southwestern Christian
SCORE

• Mid-America Christian 3, Southwestern Christian 2
  • Mid-America Christian (29-19)
  • Southwestern Christian (29-26)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Brooke Wyatt (4-4)
• Loss: Lainey King (10-9)
• Save: Gia Reynosa (1)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Gia Reynosa – SV, 4.0 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 SO
• Brooke Wyatt – W, 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 SO
• Kisbel Vizcaya – 3-4, 2B
• Madisson Chavez – 2-3, RBI
• Hallie Wilson – 1-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 SB
• Emylee Campbell – 0-3, BB, 3 SB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Hallie Wilson stole second; Emylee Campbell stole home – MACU 1, SCU 0
• TOP 3^rd – MACU – Isabel Ray grounded out to 2b, RBI; Hallie Wilson scored – MACU 2, SCU 0
• BTM 3^rd – SCU – Trinity Norwood hit a sac bunt to p, RBI; Hannah Keele scored – MACU 2, SCU 1
• BTM 5^th – SCU – Trinity Norwood singled to left center, RBI; Maliyah Patton scored – MACU 2, SCU 2
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Madisson Chavez hit a sac fly to cf, RBI; Hallie Wilson scored – MACU 3, SCU 2

GAME SUMMARY

• Southwestern Christian forced some early danger when its leadoff hitter Hanna Keele slapped a single to center and stole second. However, after a sac bunt moved the runner to third, MACU starting pitcher Gia Reynosa retired the next two batters by inducing a lineout to short and a strikeout to keep it a scoreless game.
• The Evangels were able to get some momentum going in the top of the second when Kisbel Vizcaya and Serena Rodriguez started off the frame with back-to-back singles, but SCU starting pitcher Jessica Czikra got out of the jam by inducing a foul pop out to the catcher and back-to-back flyouts to left and center to keep it 0-0.
• In the top of the third, MACU broke through as Emylee Campbell drew a leadoff walk and stole back-to-back bases before Hallie Wilson drew a walk and Campbell nabbed her third stolen base of the frame on a perfectly executed double steal.
• After Wilson got down to third on the throw back home on Campbell's steal, she came across to score on Isabel Ray's groundout to second to make it a 2-0 game.
• The Evangels had a golden opportunity to add to it when Madisson Chavez reached on a single through the left side and Kisbel Vizcaya hit a double down the left field line to put runners at second and third with only one down. However, the Evangels were abruptly thwarted when Chavez was thrown out at the plate for a double play trying to tag up on Serena Rodriguez's pop-up into foul territory.
• The Eagles took advantage of a MACU miscue as an errant throw on Keele's at-bat allowed the speedy SCU baserunner to get down to second before she stole third and scored on Trinity Norwood's squeeze bunt to the pitcher to make it a 2-1 game.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Southwestern Christian pushed across the tying run when Maliyah Patton hit a leadoff single to right center, stole second and then scored when Trinity Norwood hit an RBI single into the left center field gap to make it 2-2.
• The Eagles continued to threaten in the fifth when Norwood stole second before Lexi Cahwee drew a walk. The Evangels elected to go back to their pen with Brooke Wyatt and while Jessie Moralez blooped a single into left, Hallie Wilson made an incredible throw to the plate to gun down Norwood trying to score for the third out, keeping it to a 2-2 ballgame.
• With the game still tied heading into the seventh, the Evangels put together one last push to gain the late lead. After Hallie Wilson hit a one-out single back up the middle and Isabel Ray drew a walk, the pair perfectly executed a double steal to put both runners in scoring position. With Chavez at the dish, the freshman catcher lofted a flyball to center that was deep enough to score Wilson on the sac fly, giving MACU the 3-2 advantage.
• In the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles threatened with their most dangerous part of the order as Keele drew a leadoff walk, forcing the Evangels to re-enter their starter in Reynosa to try and get the save. While Keele was able to steal second and get moved down to third on a sac bunt with one out, Reynosa came up clutch by striking out the ever dangerous Cahwee before getting Moralez to ground out to third to seal the 3-2 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Mid-America Christian scored its three runs on eight hits and committed an error while the Eagles scored their two runs on six hits with one miscue as well.
• With the result, MACU pulled off the rare feat where the reliever got the win and the starter got the save as Brooke Wyatt improved to 4-4 in the circle after tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing only two hits with a walk and a strikeout before MACU captured the lead in the top of the seventh. Reynosa notched her first career save, ultimately finishing the contest with one unearned run on two hits and only issued one walk while striking out five.
• After a tough 0-for-7 day from the dish yesterday, Kisbel Vizcaya broke out of the slump in a big way as she went 3-for-4 with a double. The two-bagger went down as her 16^th of the season, allowing her to move alone into 10^th on MACU's all-time single-season doubles list.
• Madisson Chavez was the only other Evangel to finish with multiple hits, slashing 2-for-3 with one of MACU's two RBIs.
• Isabel Ray notched the only other RBI on a 0-for-2 day from the dish, but reached base twice via the walk to go with a stolen base.
• Hallie Wilson scored two of MACU's three runs after batting 1-for-3 with a walk and a pair of stolen bases. Emylee Campbell scored MACU's other run on her only on-base opportunity after going 0-for-3 with a walk drawn. Campbell also tallied three stolen bags as the pair combined for five of MACU's seven stolen bases.
• In the astonishing eighth meeting between the two programs this season, Mid-America Christian improved to 5-3 against Southwestern Christian after getting its second win against the Eagles in the NCCAA Central Regional. Impressively, five of the eight meetings have been decided by two runs or less.

GAME TWO / Mid-America Christian vs. Sterling

• Sterling 6, Mid-America Christian 4
  • Mid-America Christian (29-20)
  • Sterling (35-17)

PITCHING DECISIONS

• Win: Allie Olivarria (17-7)
• Loss: Chana Wolfe (9-8)
• Save: MacKenzie Viegland (2)

TOP PERFORMERS

• Brooke Wyatt – 4.1 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 SO
• Isabel Ray – 2-4, R
• Emylee Campbell – 1-3, 2 RBI, R, BB
• Hallie Wilson – 1-3, RBI, R, SB

SCORING SUMMARY

• TOP 1^st – MACU – Makenzie Thurman singled to short, RBI; Isabel Ray scored – MACU 1, STER 0
• BTM 1^st – STER – Desiree Perales grounded out to 3b; Bryley Westpahl scored on a throwing error by 1b – MACU 1, STER 1
• TOP 2^nd  – MACU – Hallie Wilson grounded out to 1b, RBI; Brooklyn Wilson scored – MACU 2, STER 1
• TOP 2^nd  – MACU – Emylee Campbell singled to right center, RBI; Isabel Ray scored, obstruction – MACU 3, STER 1
• BTM 2^nd – STER – Bryley Westphal reached on a fielder's choice to 3b, RBI; Mallory Seidel scored on a fielding error by 3b, obstruction – MACU 3, STER 2
• BTM 2^nd – STER – Mariah Cunningham walked, RBI; Kassedy Midgley scored – MACU 3, STER 3
• BTM 2^nd – STER – Desiree Perales singled to right center, 2 RBI; Bryley Westpahl scored; Phoebi Waller scored – STER 5, MACU 3
• BTM 4^th – STER – Aiyana Campos hit a sac bunt to 1b, RBI; Mariah Cunningham scored – STER 6, MACU 3
• TOP 7^th – MACU – Emylee Campbell grounded out to 2b, RBI; Hallie Wilson scored – STER 6, MACU 4

GAME SUMMARY

• Mid-America Christian got the wheels in-motion right out of the gate as the Evangels loaded the bases after Isabel Ray hit a leadoff single to right, was moved down to second on a Hallie Wilson sac bunt before Emylee Campbell drew a walk and Madisson Chavez hit a line drive single to center. Unfortunately, MACU was only able to generate one run in the frame as the Warriors got a force out at home on Kisbel Vizcaya's fielder's choice grounder to second before Makenzie Thurman gave MACU the lead on her infield single to the diving shortstop that kept the ball in the infield.
• Sterling responded with a run in its half of the first as Bryley Westfahl reached on a leadoff bunt single, got moved down to second on a groundout to second and ended up scoring on groundout to third when Makenzie Thurman's throw back down to third missed the mark, tying the game at 1-1.
• The Evangels gained the lead back in their half of the second as Brooklyn Wilson led off the frame by ripping a double down the left field line. MACU put runners at the corners when the throw by the third baseman pulled the first baseman off the bag on Ray's chopper down the line before Hallie Wilson grounded out to first base unassisted to bring in Brooklyn Wilson from third, giving MACU the 2-1 edge.
• In the very next at-bat, Campbell dropped a single into the right center field gap and while Ray was initially called out on the throw home, the call was overturned due to obstruction called on the catcher, allowing MACU to stretch the lead to 3-1.
• Unfortunately, MACU wasn't able to hold the lead down long as Sterling had six of its first seven batters reach in the bottom of the second on three walks, two singles and an error as Desiree Perales' 2-RBI single to right-center put the Warriors in-front for good at 5-3.
• The Warriors put together a major threat in the bottom of the third as well when a Kassedy Midgley single and a Madilynn Green double put two runners in scoring position with only one out. However, MACU reliever Brooke Wyatt got out of the jam by striking out back-to-back batters to keep it a two-run game.
• SC added its final insurance run in the bottom of the fourth when Mariah Cunningham hammered a leadoff triple down the left field line before coming across to score on Aiyana Campos' unassisted groundout to first, making it a 6-3 Warriors lead.
• MACU did get one more run across in the top of the seventh after Hallie Wilson hit a one-out infield single to the pitcher, stole second, got down to third on a throwing error and scored on Campbell's RBI groundout, but the Evangels were unable to add any more as Sterling held on for the 6-4 victory.

GAME NOTES

• Sterling scored its six runs on seven hits and committed a pair of errors while the Evangels notched their four runs on seven hits and tallied two defensive miscues as well.
• Despite a tough outing for Chloeaunna Madbull-Jim and Chana Wolfe in the circle, Brooke Wyatt was once again outstanding in relief as she allowed only one earned run on three hits and issued no walks while tallying a MACU career-high six strikeouts over 4.1 innings of work.
• The Evangels had a little bit better luck with the bats in their second matchup with the Warriors as six different players tallied the seven base knocks as Isabel Ray led the way by batting 2-for-4 with a run scored.
• Emylee Campbell was MACU's best run producer with a pair of RBIs following a 1-for-3 day with a walk drawn.
• Hallie Wilson also tallied an RBI and scored a run after slashing 1-for-3 with the Evangels' only stolen base of the game.
• Brooklyn Wilson came up with the only extra-base hit for the Evangels as her double allowed her to become only the second player in program history to reach 40 or more career two-baggers. Wilson now sits just one double shy of former teammate Olivia Roberts (41, 2020-23) for the program's career record.
• Makenzie Thurman tallied MACU's only other RBI following a 1-for-2 day at the dish.
• The Evangels fell to 0-2 to Sterling in the season series as MACU claims the runner-up for the NCCAA Central Regional.

UP NEXT

• Mid-America Christian will receive an at-large berth for the NCCAA National Championships that will be played at the Oak Grove Softball Complex down in Grapevine, Texas from May 19-21.