Championship loss the first setback of 2023 for Dewar

The Dewar Lady Dragon varsity fastpitch softball team suffered their first loss of the 2023 season this past Saturday.

The first setback of 2023 came in the title game of the Sue Treloar Memorial Tournament in Depew – a 9-3 defeat at the hands of Class A No. 6 Sterling.

The Lady Dragons earned a spot in the title contest with a spotless 3-0 Pool Play record, defeating Pawnee 4-0, Porum 5-4, and Rush Springs 3-2, respectively.

The runner-up finish at Depew puts the Dewar squad at 14-1 on the year and ranked 11th in Class A, heading into Monday’s home showdown with Class A No. 5 Tushka. The Lady Dragons were also in action on Tuesday with a trip to Eufaula for a battle with the Eufaula Lady Ironheads and are scheduled to host Davenport on Thursday.

In last Thursday’s Pool Play opener against Pawnee, the Lady Dragons opened the scoring with three runs in the bottom of the first. The Dewar ladies added an insurance run in the home half of the second, then kept the Lady Blackbears off the scoreboard in the third and fourth innings to walk away with the 4-0 victory after the Pool Play showdown ended on the time limit.

Marti Yaerger led the offensive output for the Lady Dragons against Pawnee, finishing 2 for 2 at the plate with a triple and home run. Yaerger’s home run began the 3-run third for the Dewar squad.

The other four Dewar base hits against Pawnee came on singles by Jaycie Berry and Korbyn Anderson, an RBI single by Bre Harvell, and an RBI triple by Kinsey Maldonado.

Other Lady Dragon baserunners in the Pool Play opener were Raygin Thomas (2 errors), Alyssa Baughman (walk), and Brailee England (2 fielder’s choices).

In last Thursday’s Pool Play battle with Porum, the Lady Dragons began the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, then added three more in the second.

Porum plated four runs in the top of the fourth, but the late comeback was thwarted, as the time limit ended after the conclusion of the Lady Panthers’ atbat in the inning with the Dewar squad on the winning end of a 5-4 decision.

The Lady Dragon offense was led by the trio of Marti Yaerger (2 for 3, single, double), Raygin Thomas (2 for 3, 2 singles, RBI), and Bre Harvell (2 for 2, 2 singles, RBI) with two hits apiece. Yaerger also reached base on an error in the contest.

The only other base hit for Dewar against Porum came on a single by Brailee England.

Other Lady Dragon baserunners in the narrow win were England (error), Kinsey Maldonado (error), Brooke Thomas (error), and Korbyn Anderson (fielder’s choice).

In Friday’s Pool Play finale against Rush Springs, the Lady Dragons broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second.

Rush Springs answered with two runs in the top of the third to deadlock the score at 2-2 after two and one-half innings of action.

With the time limit expiring in the third inning, the Lady Dragons tallied the final run of the contest on a game-winning, 1-out, RBI double by Brooke Thomas to award the Dewar squad the thrilling 3-2 decision.

Besides Thomas’ game-winning RBI double, the only other base hits for the Lady Dragons against Rush Springs came on singles by Kinsey Maldonado and Bre Harvell.

Other Dewar baserunners in the Pool Play finale were Raygin Thomas (walk), Alyssa Baughman (walk), Dakota Duke (walk), and Korbyn Anderson (RBI fielder’s choice).

In Saturday’s title game against Sterling, the Lady Dragons drew first scoring blood with a run in the bottom of the second for an early 1-0 advantage.

Sterling plated four runs in the top of the third to take over the lead, 4-1, after two and one-half innings of action.

Dewar made it a 4-2 contest with a run in the bottom of the third, while Sterling tallied a run in the fifth and four in the sixth for a 9-2 margin.

The Lady Dragons were only able to manage one run in the last of the seventh to suffer their first defeat of the 2023 season – a 9-3 setback to the Sterling Lady Tigers.

The top offensive performer for the Dewar squad in the title game was Korbyn Anderson, who finished 3 for 3 with three singles and 2 RBIs.

The other Lady Dragon batters with multi-hit games against Sterling were Marti Yaerger (2 for 3, 2 singles), Brooke Thomas (2 for 4, 2 singles, RBI), and Alyssa Baughman (2 for 3, single, double) with two hits apiece.

The other two Dewar base hits in the title game came on singles by Bre Harvell and Jaycie Berry.

Other Lady Dragon baserunners against Sterling were Yaerger (intentional walk), Berry (error), and Dakota Duke (walk, error).

— Depew Tournament Pool Play

Dewar 4, Pawnee 0

Pawnee: 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 0 – 1 – 2 Dewar: 3-1-0-x 4-6-1 WP: Brooke Thomas LP: Ives HR: Dewar: Marti Yaerger — Dewar 5, Porum 4

Porum: 0 – 0 – 0 – 4 4 – 6 – 4 Dewar: 2 – 3 – 0 – x 5 – 7 – 1 WP: Brooke Thomas LP: Coulston HR: None — Dewar 3, Rush Springs 2

Rush Springs: 0 – 0 – 2 2 – 2 – 0 Dewar: 0-2-1 3-3-1 WP: Brooke Thomas LP: Ball HR: None — Championship

Sterling 9, Dewar 3

Sterling:0-0-4-0-1-4-0 9-4-2 Dewar: 0-1-0-1-0-0-1 3 – 11 – 2 WP: Budd LP: Brooke Thomas HR: Sterling: Pierce