The Saint Jo Lady Panthers made school history on Thursday night by winning the softball programs first playoff series against Bryson at Windthorst.
The Lady Panthers won 13-9 in the first game and 18-4 by run rule in the second game to win in a sweep.
Saint Jo came into the game after a rough stretch playing only 2A schools during district play. The last win was during a tournament beating some bigger schools junior varsity teams in early March.
Last year’s playoff series against Bryson was only one game and the Cowgirls won easily by run rule 18-3.
The Lady Panthers added some young talent this year and hoped the team’s morale was not too depleted from the rough district stretch to give Bryson their best shot.
Saint Jo got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. With two runners on base and one out, Bailie Nobile hit an inside the park home run to put the Lady Panthers up 3-0.
The Cowgirls got two of the runs back in the top of the third, but Saint Jo doubled its score in response. Payzlie Cervantes drove in one run with a double. She later scored on the base paths thanks to an error. Taylor Patrick hit a double and worked her way around the bases before scoring on a wild pitch to put the Lady Panthers up 6-2 heading into the fourth inning.
Bryson came back in a big way. Several hard hit balls into the outfield resulted in some fielding errors along with extra base hits. The Cowgirls scored six runs to take the lead 8-6 and looked primed to score more with two runners on base and one out. A line drive to first basemen Kayden Skidmore was caught and she tagged first base for an unassisted double-play to end the bad inning.
Saint Jo tied back up the score in the bottom of the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Patrick came through with a single that drove in one run. A hit batter then drove in another to make it 8-8 before a groundout ended the inning.
The Lady Panthers took the led in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two runners on base and two outs, Cervantes drove in both with a single. After a hit batter put another runner on base, Patrick came up and hit a fly ball to left field, but an error in the outfield allowed two more runs to score. Patrick would later come around to score on a steal home to put Saint Jo up 13-8.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Bryson started the seventh inning by drawing three straight walks to load the bases. After retiring the next two batters, a passed ball allowed one run to come in and score to make it 13-9 before a pop out to shortstop ended the game.
Cervantes led the team with three RBIs while Nobile was second with two. Nevaeh Spann and Patrick each led the team with three hits each.
The team finished with 10 hits while drawing four walks and getting hit by five pitches.
Maxey Johnson pitched the first 4.2 innings before Cervantes came in to finish the final 2.1 innings. Johnson allowed eight runs (five earned) on seven hits and five walks while striking out four. Cervantes allowed one run on one hit while walking four.
Saint Jo’s depth at pitcher would prove to be a factor heading into the second game, which started only 30 minutes after the end of the first. Bryson seemed to rely on only one and she started to fade the longer the second game went on.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.