Grizzlies advance to sixth-straight National Tournament with 5-2 win over McCook
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
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2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 5 | 8 | 0 |
The Butler Grizzlies punched their ticket to Yuma, Arizona and a shot at the programs third national championship with a 5-2 win over the McCook Indians to complete a sweep of the best of three Plains District championship on Saturday at Jaycees Field in McCook, Nebraska.
The Grizzlies will move on to Yuma and look towards their first national title since 2017 in two weeks time. It is Head Coach Doug Chance's twelfth trip to the tournament in his 18 years in charge of the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies jumped on top of the game early with two runs in the first inning off back to back RBI doubles from Alex Olson and Mariah Wheeler. Reese Briggs put the game to bed with a solo home run down the line in the third inning to put the Grizzlies up by three. Gianna De Luca-Paape and Ari Cordova provided the two other RBIs as Butler combined for five runs on eight hits, also earning four walks.
Allyson Montgomery improved to 21-0 on the season with the victory, pitching five innings and allowing one hit and one run, a solo home run in the third inning. Kendal LeGrand pitched two innings in relief to preserve the victory, as the two freshmen combined for 12 strikeouts.
Butler improves to 47-2 on the year, and they'll wait for the NJCAA Selection Show to find out their opponent on Tuesday, May 24th in the opening game of the double elimination tournament in Yuma.