Bourbon High School’s softball team advanced to the semifinals of the Class 2 District 3 Tournament after defeating Grandview (Hillsboro) in convincing fashion on May 7 in Potosi.

Bourbon then took on Salem in the semifinals on May 11, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. If the Lady Warhawks win that matchup, they will play in the district finals May 13 against the winner of Houston and Potosi.

The Lady Warhawks did fall to an offensive powerhouse Houston team on May 4 in their final regular season game of the year. Bourbon’s game versus Houston and their district quarterfinal matchup versus Grandview (Hillsboro) are detailed below.

The Lady Warhawks’ potent offensive attack has scored at least 10 runs in 14 of its 16 wins on the season. Bourbon’s offense combined with dominant pitching from senior Annalise Gobin has molded together to yield a breakout season.

Bourbon is currently 16-5 on the year, shattering last season’s 13-7 season for the best record in the program’s history with a chance to add to its win total.

Lady Warhawks fall to powerful Houston squad in regular season finale

Bourbon faced off with a Houston Lady Tigers team that brought their hot bats into town. Houston scored four runs in each of the first two innings before exploding four 14 runs in the third inning en route to a 22-7 run-rule victory over the Lady Warhawks in three innings.

Trailing 8-0 in the second inning, Bourbon showed fight, plating four runs to cut the gap in half. After Houston’s explosion in the top of the third, the Lady Hawks added another three runs in the bottom of the inning. But it wasn’t enough to continue the game, as Houston’s 15 run lead ended things after three innings.

Bourbon was plagued by seven errors in the field, which led to 11 unearned runs from the Lady Tigers.

Annalise Gobin pitched the first two innings, striking out five Houston hitters before Savanna Vance came on for the final inning in the circle.

Lauryn Hercules doubled, singled twice, drove in two runs and scored once to lead the Lady Warhawk’s hitters. Hallie Kahmke doubled and drove in a run, Kinzey Waldron doubled and scored twice and Brynn Miller singled, drove in two runs and scored twice to round out Bourbon’s offensive production.

Houston senior first baseman Ashley Gilbert went 4-for-4 with four runs batted in and four runs scored, including a double and a home run blast over to center field to lead the Lady Tigers. Sophomore third baseman Claire Benoist also crushed a home run, doubled, scored four times and drove in three runs to pair with Gilbert to form a potent dynamic duo for Houston.

Bourbon routs Grandview (Hillsboro) in district quarterfinals

The Lady Warhawks scored four runs in the first inning, nine in the third and three in the fourth to power their way to a 16-0 win over the Grandview Lady Eagles in four innings.

Gobin twirled four shutout innings from the circle, allowing just one hit, while striking out nine and walking none to earn the win. 

Freshman Savanna Vance crushed her first home run of the season and her high school career in the first inning on a three-run blast over the left field fence. Vance also doubled later in the game to finish with four runs batted in and two runs scored.

Waldron doubled twice, drove in four runs, scored twice and stole a base and Ella Biles singled, doubled, scored three times, drove in three runners and stole a base.

Hercules reached base all four times she came to bat, driving in two, stealing two bases and scoring three times to spark the Lady Warhawks from the leadoff spot.

Freshman Brynn Miller led Bourbon with three base hits out of the eight hole in the order, as the right fielder singled twice, doubled, drove in a run and scored once.

Maddie Blanton walked, singled, scored and drove in a run, Gobin singled, stole a base and scored twice and Bree Bouse singled and scored as productivity spanned from the one through nine spots in the Lady Hawks’ batting order. 

Grandview junior shortstop Malia Nahlik collected the Lady Eagles’ lone base hit and stole a base in the loss.