BOURBON- — Bourbon High School’s softball team began the season with a stretch of games in three straight days, from March 24-26, against West County, Salem and Kingston, respectively. The Blue and White played Salem in its home opener, sandwiched in between road games against West County and Kingston. The Lady Warhawks lost a nail-biter to West County, fell to Salem and won decisively over Kingston to start the season with a 1-2 record.

The Lady Warhawks are coming off a strong 13-7 season last year, where their year ended in a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to Potosi in the Class 2 District 3 tournament. This season, Bourbon boasts a youthful team of three freshmen, seven sophomores, three juniors and just one senior, Annalise Gobin, under head coach Randy Payne and assistant coach Lindsey Gobin.

March 24 vs. West County

The Lady Warhawks opened their season competing in a slugfest on the road against the West County Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Bulldogs started the scoring with one run in the first and two in the second to take a 3-0 lead into the third inning. Bourbon got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the third to narrow its gap to one. West County quickly responded with three runs in the bottom of the third and one in the fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead into the fifth inning.

The Lady Hawks didn’t lay down and swung the pendulum from trailing by five to being up by two runs after adding two runs in the fifth inning and erupting for five runs in the sixth inning. Unfortunately for Bourbon, the Lady Bulldogs added one run in the sixth before adding two in the seventh inning to come away with a walk-off 10-9 victory over the Lady Warhawks.

Bourbon’s lone senior, Gobin, did her best to keep her team in the game. Gobin pitched a complete game, struck out 10 batters and added two hits, two walks, three runs scored, one stolen base and two runs batted in at the plate. Sophomore Ella Biles collected two hits, three runs batted in, two walks and a run scored and fellow sophomore Kinzey Waldorn added a pair of base hits and two runs batted in. Freshmen Brynn Miller and Brianna Bouse each reached base twice and stole a base and Savanna Vance walked three times and knocked in a run. West County had three players record multiple hits, led by Madison Vogelpohl, who added two runs scored and two runs batted in.

March 25 vs. Salem

Bourbon returned to friendly confines for their home opener versus the Salem Lady Tigers. The scoring started immediately as Salem scored three runs in the top of the first. The Lady Hawks quickly responded in the bottom of the first when Biles laced a pitch down the right field line that drove in Gobin and sophomore Lauryn Hercules to make it a 3-2 game.

That would be the last time Bourbon would score until the final inning as Salem pitcher Alaina Norris settled in and hurled a complete game. Salem would add three runs in the third and sixth innings and one in the seventh to come away with a 10-3 victory over Bourbon.

Hercules was Bourbon’s best player on the field, playing a stout shortstop in the field, while recording three base hits at the plate, including a booming triple. She also stole three bases, scored one run and added one run batted in. Biles finished with two hits to continue her strong offensive start to the season and pitched the final one-and-a-third inning of the game in relief of Goblin. Waldron collected a single and junior Maddie Blanton walked twice for the Lady Warhawks. 

March 26 vs. Kingston

The Lady Warhawks looked ready to take some frustrations out on the Kingston Lady Cougars after dropping its first two games. Bourbon came off the bus scorching hot at the plate, tallying 14 runs in the opening inning to set the tone for a three inning 17-0 mercy rule victory.

Gobin took the mound again and no-hit the Lady Cougars in three innings while striking out six batters to stifle any thoughts of a Kingston comeback.

Bourbon first baseman Blanton led the way for the Blue and White with two singles, a double, five runs batted in and a run scored. Waldron added two singles, two runs scored and three runs batted in.

Biles collected her third straight two-hit game to start the season. She also knocked in two runs, stole a base and scored three times. Vance doubled, scored all three times she reached base and had a run batted in.

Junior Hailie Kahmke singled, stole a base, scored twice and had two runs batted in. Hercules reached base three times, stole two bases and scored twice. Sophomore Lylah Enke walked, batted in a run and scored a run and Bouse singled, knocked in a run and scored once to round out the offensive onslaught of Bourbon’s attack. 

Bourbon played another stretch of three days in a row, beginning with a March 30 match up in Dixon. The Lady Warhawks then hosted Bismarck on March 31 before traveling to Hillsboro on April 1 to take on Grandview. All of those games will be detailed in next week’s edition. Bourbon will host Plato on April 6, Steelville on April 9 and Kingston on April 10. All games are scheduled for 4 p.m. starts.