The Lady Raiders put in a long day Thursday. And then they got on the bus for a four-hour drive. Three Rivers and Crowder were supposed to play their season finale doubleheader on Wednesday. With heavy rains in the forecast, they decided Tuesday to cancel the games. However, Crowder and Jefferson were still competing for the top seed. If Three Rivers swept Crowder, then Jefferson would hold on to the top spot and a first-round bye in the Region XVI Tournament. Ultimately, the game was uncanceled and moved up to noon from 2 p.m., but the rain only cooperated long enough for the first game. The second was postponed until Thursday morning. The season finale for both teams, now changed on the schedule three times, was set for 10 a.m. Three Rivers coach Jeff Null got out to the field about 7:30 a.m. and walked the infield tarp. "I was walking on it, it was squishy underneath," Null said. The Lady Raiders arrived 30 minutes later and Crowder showed up about 9. The Lady Raiders got the tarp off and raked the wet spots. Crowder went to the store to get sand. Null borrowed conditioner from the baseball team.
"They helped out a ton. It was a joint effort and we got it ready," Null said. "Both teams were out here sucking water off." Lady Raider freshman Kira Cunningham's mom brought donuts and drinks for everybody. "Everybody got along great. It was just a good, friendly atmosphere," said Null, who told Crowder coach John Sisemore he'd be happy to help him out next time. "It's always good to do a favor for somebody. Maybe good karma going into the region tournament." The game finally started about noon. It was 3-1 going into the top of the seventh, when Crowder broke through for five runs and won 8-3 to clinch the top seed.
After finishing the game around 1:30 p.m., the Lady Raiders packed their stuff and got on the bus at 3 p.m. to drive to Columbia for the Region XVI Tournament, which started for them at noon Friday against No. 5 seed MCC-Maple Woods. "It's been a long day already. It's only 1:30 p.m," Null said after the game. "It was a lot of work. We thank them and thank our girls." Three Rivers could have moved up to the No. 3 spot with a sweep, but Null felt it was more important to position his pitchers for the tournament than to tire them out Thursday.
Should Three Rivers win its first game, the next round would either be against Crowder or Jefferson. For Null, it was splitting hairs. "It really didn't matter to me," Null said. "We like our chances. We split with a very competitive Crowder. If we can get by them, we like our chances. They are going to be the No. 1 seed, so we are going to have to get by them at some point." Like Wednesday, when the Lady Raiders beat Crowder 6-5, Null gave all four of his pitchers a small amount of work. Maci Coleman (2-4) started and threw two innings and gave up six hits, a walk and three runs. Carleigh Burnett followed and pitched three scoreless innings and allowed a hit and a walk with one strikeout. Cunningham retired the side in the sixth, including a strikeout where the batter watched a strike three changeup float all the way to the catcher's mitt. Cunningham gave up a single to start the seventh, and with the Lady Raiders down 3-1 and a chance to rally, Null put in the team's No. 1 pitcher Wiley Lowry. She allowed a walk and an RBI groundout, then Three Rivers (29-24, 13- 11 Region XVI) committed a pair of errors behind her, and Lowry gave up a threerun homer that put Crowder (49-7, 20-4 Region XVI) up by seven. Lowry had a two-run double to the fence in right-center field to score Lexi Morris and MaKayla Lamphier in the bottom of the seventh. Lowry also scored in the sixth after a leadoff single and an RBI grounder up the middle by Shaina Merrick.
The Lady Raiders will play at 3:45 p.m. against Crowder if it beats Maple Woods in the double elimination tournament. If they lose, they will play next at 6 p.m. Saturday against a loser in the semifinals of the winner's bracket.