The Emporia Energy U-18 softball team ended its season on top at the Heartland World Series in Olathe, winning seven straight games this weekend to take the tournament championship.
The Energy’s 7-0 run through the bracket began with three victories on Friday. Emporia first defeated the Lee’s Summit Heat by a score of 7-1, then earned a pair of easy shutout victories, beating the Kansas City Wranglers 10-0 and the Cyclones 7-0.
On Saturday, the Energy beat the Independence Synergy 3-1 in pool play, then began bracket play by defeating the Synergy again by a 10-1 score. Emporia completed its run Sunday with a dominating two-game sweep of the Agency Fusion, beating the Fusion by scores of 6-0 and 9-0 for the championship.
“I was surprised that we were probably a little higher level of competition than the rest of the field going into it,” Energy coach Jeffrey Lynch said. “We played a tough schedule, and that’s what helped get us there in the first place. And I was really proud of our pitching. It came around, we stayed ahead of the hitters, we didn’t walk more than two in any one game, and so that was big. And our hitting was probably our best hitting performance of the season.”
Elyse Hecht and Lenae Wells each had 10 hits for the Energy during the tournament, and Javyn Carl and Hannah Lynch each had seven. Kyleen Condon earned four of the victories on the mound for Emporia, and Taylor Rains picked up three wins, with Morgan Williams also contributing time on the mound.
Emporia finished its season with a 23-17 record.