BY JIM MISUNAS

jmisunas@gbtribune.com

GARDEN CITY — Western Athletic Conference softball champion Great Bend roared to 10-0 and 7-0 leads to sweep past Garden City 16-4 and 9-3 Thursday to capture the league title for the first time in 10 years.

In three WAC showdowns, the Panthers (18-4, 12-0 WAC) outscored Garden City (11-6, 4-4 WAC) 30-7. The Panthers pounded out six homers and 18 extra-base hits.

"They were locked in at the plate knowing they needed to be patient," said Great Bend coach Carrie Minton. "(Kyleigh) Whitehurst wants to get up in the count and make you chase. The girls waited until she brought something over the plate and jumped all over it." 

Camdyn Post (.600), DeShawnna Bryant (.583), Kya Behr (.545) and Katherine Mazouch (.467) enjoyed productive 3-game series. Mazouch homered twice and Bryant, Behr, Chayla Prendergast and Alyssa McCauley also hit roundtrippers. 

"From top to bottom, every girl in our lineup did their job," said Minton. "We're extremely fortunate to have great hitters all the way through. With Mazouch, Post, Behr, Bryant, McCauley, Umphres, Koelsch, Ringo, Prendergast, there is no break for an opposing pitcher."

Great Bend pitcher Prendergast earned a pair of head-to-head showdown against Garden City's Kyleigh Whitehurst, who entered the 3-game series with the lowest WAC ERA.

Prendergast (11-2, 2.76 ERA) has permitted 34 earned runs in 86 innings. She yielded four earned runs in 14 innings against Garden City.

"Our pitchers did an outstanding job keeping their hitters off balance," Minton said. "Chayla did a great job in game 1, followed up by Alyssa McCauley with Chayla closing out two innings. Our defense made amazing plays to back up their performances in the circle.

"A crucial component was our catcher Kamryn Koelsch," she said. "She did a great job recognizing what was working pitch-wise and making necessary adjustments with their batters and pitch calls. She has been solid all season behind the plate." 

Whitehurst (11-5, 3.56 ERA) yielded 18 earned runs in 152/3 innings, pushing her ERA from 2.64 to 3.56. Whitehurst, averaging 10 strikeouts per seven innings, struck out 10 Panthers in 152/3 innings. 

PANTHERS 16, BUFFALOES 4 (G1) — Bryant and Mazouch each drove home four runs and McCauley delivered three RBI with four consecutive hits. 

Bryant ripped a 2-run double and McCauley ripped a 2-run first inning homer. Bryant, McCauley and Kamryn Koelsch hit RBI doubles and Mazouch capped a 6-run third inning with a 3-run homer.

Behr drilled a 2-run double and Mazouch, Post, Behr and Bryant added RBI hits in a 6-run fifth inning. Yasmin Angeles, Elly Ortiz and Yocelynn Vargas had RBI.

PANTHERS 9, BUFFALOES 3 (G2) — Behr hit a 2-run homer and delivered a 4-RBI game with three runs scored. Bryant homered and drove home two runs.

McCauley (5-1, 5.88 ERA) struck out three batters in a 5-inning outing. Elly Ortiz homered and Whitehurst and Samantha Wilder added runs batted in.

Minton won her fifth WAC softball championship. Great Bend has won 13 WAC softball titles.

"I'm happy for this group of young ladies," Minton said. "They've worked extremely hard and are very deserving of the WAC title. The girls did a tremendous job of putting runs on the board and playing great defense behind our pitchers. "

Great Bend 406 06 — 16 18 0

Garden City 001 21 — 4 4 0

Prendergast and Koelsch. Whitehurst, Polson (3) and Peck. W—Prendergast, 11-2. L—Whitehurst 11-4. 2B—GB—Bryant 2, McCauley, Post, Behr, Koelsch. HR—GB—Mazouch, McCauley.

Great Bend 340 002 0 — 9 11 0

Garden City 010 002 0 — 3 7 2

McCauley, Prendergast (6) and Koelsch. Whitehurst, Y Angeles (6), Polson (6) and Peck. W—McCauley 5-1. L—Whitehurst 11-5. 2B—GB—Behr, Koelsch, Mazouch; GC—Wilder, Vargas. 3B—GC—Wilder. HR—GB—Bryant, Behr; GC—Ortiz.