Anderson County Dominates Buffalos

By Dustin Kass, dustinKass@miconews.com

Prairie View second baseman Devon Morris runs down the ball after a play at second against Anderson County in the Class 4A regional playoffs on Monday. (Photo by Gene Morris)

It was a tough way for the Prairie View softball players to end a strong year.

The Anderson County Bulldogs handled the Buffalos 13-0 in five innings Monday during the first round of regional play.

Losing to the team who captured both the Pioneer League regular-season and tournament titles didn’t sting as much as the final score in Prairie View coach Lisa Boone’s mind.

“There’s not much to say,” Boone said following the game.

“We had a strong year, but the team today never got off the bus.”

The Buffalos stranded runners in the early innings, and the Bulldog offense struck for four runs in the first on its way to the double-digit total.

Still, Boone saw many positives this year for her team, which improved from a record of 3-17 last year to 10-10 this year.

“I’m real pleased with the year we had,” she said. “I’m very proud of my girls.”

Boone attributed much of this year’s success to Prairie View playing in the newly formed Pioneer League, but not because the level of competition dropped. She said the girls on her team benefitted instead by not having to face established programs like Paola and Spring Hill, teams whose legacies are well established and intimidating in a way.

“I really think it helped with our mental aspect, thinking we could compete,” she said.

Monday’s game was the last for seniors Kirsty Maris, Caitlin Burk, Amanda Lewis, Deanna Gainer and Sam Behm, and Boone said it would be tough to fill the spots left vacant by her senior class, four of whom were starters this year.

Behm’s void will be especially hard to fill, Boone said. Behm has started and hit in the cleanup spot for the varsity team since she was a freshman. She started at catcher as a freshman and third base as a sophomore and junior before returning behind the plate this year, often catching for her younger sister Hannah, a sophomore. Boone said Behm will lace up the cleats again next year to play college ball in Texas.

Despite the departures and the outcome of Monday’s game, the players still found something to laugh about as they huddled in the outfield grass after the loss.

“We were laughing at Kirsty (Maris),” Boone said, mentioning that Maris brought up the time this season when she walked up to the plate to hit without a batting helmet on.