STILL DANCING: Gladstone Girls Make Final Four

FISHERS, Ind.---The Gladstone Major Girls Little League (age 11-12) softball team advanced to the Central Regional semifinals on Thursday with a 12-4 win over Marion County, Kentucky.

The Gladstone girls scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning to take control, and then after a shaky second inning when they gave up three runs, the Purple answered with three runs of their own and cruised over the final three innings of the contest.

Gladstone will face Central Iowa Little League out of Polk City, Iowa, in the semifinals on Friday.

Gladstone jumped on Lentucky pitcher Caitlyn Brady in the first inning when Addie Trombley singled, Lauren Saundquist walked, and both scored on a base hit up the middle by Maggie Buckley. Later in the inning, Gladstone had the bases loaded when Reese Herioux hit a grounder toward third base. The throw to the plate was wild, allowing two runs to score. Then after Rylee Gerow was hit by a pitch, Morgan Dawley came through with a two-run double to right field to make it 6-0.

Gladstone pitcher Montgomery Pepin had troubles in the top of the second inning, however, when she hit the first two batters she faced, and then an infield error plated a Kentucky run. With the count 3-2 on #9 hitter Kaylee Reed, she ripped a two-run single to cut Gladstone’s lead to 6-3.

Another error and a walk reloaded the bases, but Brady, the #3 hitter for Kentucky, smacked one up the middle that Tia Schone scooped up and made the play at shortstop to end the rally.

Gladstone immediately got those runs back in the bottom of the second on an RBI triple to the fence by Pepin, a groundout by Buckley, and an RBi single by Samantha Drielick.

The Gladstone defense was strong the rest of the way, with Alli Larson making two catches of towering fly balls in left field as she came in off the bench in the middle innings. Sundquist crashed into the fence after she flipped off the catcher’s mask and caught a pop fly in foul territory. And Schone kept scooping grounders up at short, ending the game with a nice running catch in left-center field.

Pepin ended up throwing all six innings, allowing just two hits and three walks. She struck out four batters. Three pitchers shared the duties for Kentucky, with Brady taking the loss.

Sundquist scored four runs for Gladstone and Trombley scored three times. Buckley drove in four runs and Pepin brought home two.

In the other quarterfinals, Omaha, Nebraska, shut out the top seed, Floyd Knobs, Indiana, 4-0; Pittsfield, Illinois dumped Tallmadge, Ohio, 7-2; and Polk City, Iowa, knocked off Columbia, Missouri, 8-2.

The Gladstone-Iowa game starts at 2:06 ET on Friday and can be heard live on WCHT-AM (NewsTalk 600) and on-line at www.rrnsports.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos, videos taken by Amy Sundquist. Also see and hear interviews with Alli Larson, Montgomery Pepin, and Coach Rick Pepin.