Courtney Weber?s single up the middle drove in Krista Reimer with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Hills?boro softball team advanced to the semifinals of the Class 3A tournament in Manhattan with a 2-1 win over Douglass in Friday?s first round.
Top-seeded Hillsboro trailed No. 8 Douglass 1-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. After Stephanie Sanders hit a one-out triple, Allison Weber reached first on a bunt when the Douglass third baseman hung on to the ball to keep Sanders from scoring. Then, when Weber attempted to steal second base, the throw from the catcher got away from the second baseman enabling Sanders to dash home.
In the bottom of the eighth, Reimer poked a bloop single to right field for her fourth hit of the game. She was safe at second when an attempted force-out throw to second on a ball hit by Madison Klein got away from the fielder. After Amy Bartel grounded out, Weber followed with her game-winning hit.
With the win, the 21-3 Trojans will play in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday against the winner of No. 4 Anthony Harper-Chaparral (17-6) and No. 5 Pittsburg-St. Marys Colgan (17-6). The winner of that game will play for the state championship at 1 p.m. and the loser will play for third place at noon.
