Central City advances in regional softball tournament, reaches the 30-win plateau once again

CENTRAL CITY — Dave Johnson doesn’t take this run of quiet consistency for granted.

“A lot of people — myself included, in all honesty — had no idea what this team could do,” said Johnson, softball coach at Central City.

“I didn’t think 30 wins was a possibility. For this team to accomplish that, it’s beyond my wildest expectations.”

The Wildcats broke free with six runs in the bottom of the second inning and sidelined Springville, 8-2, in a Class 1A softball regional quarterfinal Wednesday night at Central City High School.

Avery Wise scattered five hits, striking out 10 and walking none. That enabled the Wildcats (30-11) to reach the 30-win plateau for the sixth consecutive non-COVID season.

“We always have a lot of fun,” senior Cami Ellis said. “That kind of team chemistry helps us get all of those wins.”

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Photos: Central City eliminates Springville in 1A regional quarterfinals

Two more, and that quiet consistency would get a lot louder. The Wildcats host Calamus-Wheatland (26-15) in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday.

Central City combined six hits and four errors by the Orioles (14-22) into that six-run second.

Savannah Koch opened the rally with a double, then moved to second base on Avary Besler’s sacrifice bunt.

RBI hits by Sloane Smith, Ali Fritscher, Wise and Lucy Smith followed, then Koch closed it with a sacrifice fly.

“We had a lot of energy,” Ellis said. “We wanted to come out and be tough both on offense and defense.”

And Wise (16-6) was a stopper in the circle. Her change-up was strong “in the second half of the game,” she said.

Johnson expanded on that:

“We have two freshman pitchers (Wise and Koch) that have worked extremely hard. They’ve both risen to the occasion, and I was prepared to use both of them tonight,” he said.

“One thing I asked for was for Avery to limit her free passes. Things were rolling, so we stuck with it.”

The youngsters’ progress was a necessity in the aftermath of all-stater Sara Reid’s graduation.

Springville edged within 6-2 on single tallies in the third and sixth innings, but the Wildcats answered with a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth.

The Orioles finished with six errors.

Central City 8, Springville 2

Class 1A Regional Quarterfinal, at Central City

Springville 001 001 0 — 2 5 6

Central City 060 002 x — 8 8 2

Ashlynne Zaruba, Molly Stamp (2) and Alivia Hoyt. Avery Wise and Bailee Weber. W — Wise (16-6). L — Zaruba (5-6).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com