BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
Great Bend pitcher Chayla Prendergast won Tuesday's head-to-head showdown against Garden City's Kyleigh Whitehurst, arguably the No. 1 pitcher in the Western Athletic Conference.
Prendergast struck out 11 batters and threw a 1-hit shutout to power a 5-0 victory over the Buffaloes. Prendergast (10-2, 2.65 ERA) has permitted 30 earned runs in 79 innings.
"My curveballs were working really well, and I was glad my change-up was doing good too," Prendergast said. "The umpire was calling low and inside strikes, so I worked my fastball inside."
The Panthers' infielders recorded nine assists. Prendergast recorded three outs after the first two batters reached base in the first and seventh innings.
"It was good defense all the way around," she said. "We came out and played well."
Prendergast keyed a game-clinching 4-run sixth inning with a 2-run homer. Katherine Mazouch followed with a homer. DeShawnna Bryant singled in Camdyn Post for a 5-0 lead.
"I was excited about my home run," she said. "It was nice to pad our lead. Denver Ringo did a nice job hitting a change-up to get us going."
Whitehurst (11-3) was tagged for four earned runs, pushing her ERA to 2.87 from 2.64. Whitehurst, averaging 10 strikeouts, struck out four batters. The Panthers had 16 baserunners reach base to keep the pressure on the Buffaloes, who committed four errors that cost them a first-inning run.
"We knew Whitehurst would try and keep us off balance," said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. "Our focus was being disciplined. Our girls made quick adjustments, and put pressure on their defense. We put the ball in play."
Minton coached the Panthers to lay off a rise ball and a breaking pitch that finish out of the strike zone.
"The girls made the pitcher throw strikes to them," Minton said. "We earned some sixth-inning runs to let us breathe. That was a huge inning. You gain confidence hitting off a good pitcher."
The Panthers (16-4, 10-0 WAC) clinch a share of the WAC softball title. The Panthers can clinch an outright WAC title with one victory Thursday at Garden City (11-4, 4-2 WAC).
The Panthers outscored the Indians 34-12 in three wins. Great Bend scored 18 runs against Hays All-WAC pitcher Riley Dreher (4-4).
Minton believes the Panthers learned it's important to hit pitches in the strike zone during a 1-3 stretch at Dodge City.
"We got anxious and weren't disciplined against good pitchers that weekend," she said. "We chased too many pitches. It made us better hitters."
Garden City 000 000 0 — 0 1 4
Great Bend 100 004 x — 5 10 1
Whitehurst and Peck. Prendergast and Koelsch. W—Prendergast, 10-2. L—Whitehurst 11-3. 2B—GB—Behr, Ringo. HR—GB—Prendergast, Mazouch.
