Lee’s Summit North softball falls 1-0 to Columbia Rock Bridge in Missouri championships

Lee’s Summit North and unbeaten Columbia Rock Bridge were scoreless through five innings in a classic championship game Friday afternoon at Springfield’s Killian Softball Complex.

Junior right-hander Cierra Harrison was dealing for the Broncos, striking out 11 Rock Bridge batters to that point — the first Bruin to reach base was their senior ace, Ella Schouten, but they left her stranded in the fifth.

Then came the sixth, when Rock Bridge scored all the runs it needed — one — on a sacrifice fly by Cydney Fullerton to score Maddie Snider, who’d tripled.

The Broncos had a final chance to extend the game in the seventh, but that’s how it ended: Rock Bridge 1, Lee’s Summit North 0.

Lee’s Summit North (28-4) was playing in the first state softball tournament in school history, and claimed a runner-up finish to build upon. Harrison (23-3) struck out 14 for Lee’s Summit North and allowed just the one hit. She racked up a remarkable 272 strikeouts this season in just over 160 innings.

Schouten (18-0), a senior, struck out 10 as the Bruins completed their first perfect season in softball.

Lee’s Summit North had a runner at second in the sixth on shortstop Kinsey Fiedler’s second hit of the game off Schouten. But the Broncos left the University of Washington signee stranded.

Lee’s Summit North advanced to the title game with a 2-0 win over Kickapoo in the semifinals on Oct. 24. Harrison struck out 14 in that game, too.

Highlights for Lee’s Summit North include beating two-time defending state champion Blue Springs South twice this season.

Friday’s game was originally set for Thursday but was pushed back a day because of poor conditions at the field.

Webster Groves (16-2) beat Webb City 5-4 in eight innings for the Class 4 championship earlier Friday.

The Class 3 title game, featuring Savannah vs. Sullivan, was taking place at 6 p.m. Friday. The championship games for Classes 1 (Vienna vs. Jefferson-Conception with South Nodaway) and 2 (Penney vs. Father Tolton Regional Catholic) are Saturday.