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Box Score 3 Navarro Softball battled its way to Sunday and a semifinalist finish at the 2021 Region XIV Eastern Conference Tournament on Suddenlink Field at UT-Tyler.
Coach Jessica Karenke-Burke's Bulldogs completed a 3-2 weekend and their 22-21 season with an 8-5 elimination loss to eighth-ranked, top-seeded Bossier Parish. BPCC later dropped its second game to TVCC, 8-5, crowning the Cardinals as tournament champion, Mid-South District winners and qualifiers for the NJCAA Tournament at Yuma, Az.
Navarro's weekend included a pair of one-run victories over Paris (6-5 Friday and 4-3 Saturday), and a 7-4 Saturday morning win over Kilgore. Braylee Forse picked up her 14th win in the championship-bracket opener. Brooklynn Swacker went 2-2 during the remainder of the tournament, allowing only three earned runs or less in each of the final three contests.
Top hitters included leadoff-hitting second baseman Faith Fernandez, who hit .471 in the tournament (8-for-17) with a home run, six runs-batted-in and four runs scored. Her three-run, fifth-inning home run against Kilgore rallied Navarro into a 4-3 lead.
Designated player Jada Woolley batted .461 in four games (6-for-13) with two homers, five RBI and four runs. Woolley, who returned to play in 25 games after March 14, hit .407 in just 54 at-bats, totaled nine extra-base hits among 22 total and wound up with efficient production of six homers and 16 RBI.
The combined three homers from Fernandez and Woolley accounted for half hit by NC during the tournament.
Rightfielder Harley Davis went 5-for-6 in two Friday games, including 3-for-3 with a home run in the 4-2 loss to Bossier Parish. Davis drove in both runs with the solo homer and a seventh-inning double.
All-region and all-conference first baseman Tatum Briggs belted her team-leading 10th roundtripper in the first inning of Sunday's finale. Centerfielder Jenna Rude smacked only her second of the season – a two-out, three-run, sixth-inning homer to left that provided insurance against KC.
Trinity Valley (33-13) won five straight games to capture the Eastern Tournament. South Zone champion San Jacinto (40-8) won its regional over Lamar State-Port Arthur, 7-2, and also qualified for the national tournament.
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SUNDAY: BPCC 8, NAVARRO 5
SCORE BY INNINGS……..……R-H-E (LOB)
Navarro…….202…000…1 -- 5-6-6 (6)
BPCC…………300…104…X -- 8-7-2 (7)
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SATURDAY: NAVARRO 4, PARIS 3
SCORE BY INNINGS……….…R-H-E (LOB)
Paris………010….020….0 -- 3-5-4 (5)
Navarro….002…200….X -- 4-5-2 (5)
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SATURDAY: NAVARRO 7, KILGORE 4
SCORE BY INNINGS………...R-H-E (LOB)
Kilgore…….020…100…1 -- 4-5-2 (7)
Navarro…..100….033..X -- 7-9-3 (7)
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FRIDAY: BOSSIER PARISH 4, NAVARRO 2
SCORE BY INNINGS……………..R-H-E (LOB)
Navarro……….000….010…1 – 2-6-0 (4)
BPCC……………210….100…X – 4-4-0 (2)
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FRIDAY: NAVARRO 6, PARIS 5
SCORE BY INNINGS……………..R-H-E (LOB)
Paris…………..010….013…0 -- 5-9-3 (9)
Navarro………023….100…X –- 6-8-0 (6)
