Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Parkland softball concluded the 2019 regular season with a Sunday split against visiting Lewis & Clark, finishing tied for second in the Mid-West Athletic Conference. The Cobras won game one behind seven innings from Morgan Parrish (10-3) and three RBI by Bri Poehler, but Lewis & Clark battled back in game two to win an extra-inning affair, 5-4. The Cobras finish the regular season with a 32-20 record, including 16-8 in conference.

Finishing tied for second in the conference with Heartland, the Cobras will be the No. 4 seed in this upcoming week's Region 24 tournament. The Region 24 tourney gets underway on Thursday, May 9, in Mattoon, Illinois and continues through Saturday. The tournament champion advances to the NJCAA National Tournament, while the runner-up will play the Region 12 champion for a second chance at a trip to Nationals.

Morgan Parrish held Lewis & Clark in check for the final six innings in game one while Bri Poehler went 3-for-4 with three RBI with all three runs batted in coming with two outs. Now 10-3 on the season, Parrish allowed just four hits over the final six innings and struck out four Trailblazers. Kate Beckemeyer and Kirbie Mendenhall each added two hits to the Parkland lineup.

Tori Witruk pitched all eight innings in game two, but the Trailblazers scored five runs over the final four innings to come back from down 3-0. The Cobras tied the game with a run in the bottom of the seventh, but a Lewis & Clark home run with one out in the eighth proved to be the difference.

Game 1: Parkland 6, Lewis & Clark 1

Morgan Parrish allowed a first-inning run that gave Lewis & Clark, but silenced the Trailblazer bats over the following six frames. Allowing just four hits over the final six innings, Parrish settled in with three-up, three-down innings in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings.

Trailing 1-0, the Cobras responded with a run to tie in the first inning and then three more in the second to take control.
Kate Beckemeyer led off the first with a single, and then scored from second base on a flyout to center, forcing an errant throw that sailed into the home dugout and gifted the Cobra leadoff hitter the final 90 feet.

In the second inning, Back-to-back one-out doubles in the second inning by Summer Johnson and Kirbie Mendenhall set the Cobras in motion, and then a passed ball gave Parkland the lead and a two-out, bases-loaded single by Poehler drove in two more.

With Parrish in full control, the Cobras tacked on single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Skundberg doubled in Poehler in the fifth, and then Poehler plated Maddie Quattro with her second two-out hit in the sixth.

Game 2: Parkland 4, Lewis & Clark 5 (8 inn.)

The Cobras scored first in game two, breaking through in the third after threatening in the second. Bri Poehler picked up her fourth hit of the day to start the inning, and then advanced to came around to score on a single by Bella Coffey and an error by the Trailblazer centerfielder.

Kate Beckemeyer and Emma Newton padded the lead in the fourth, as the Cobras plated a pair of runs to make it 3-0. After a walk and an error put two runners on, Beckemeyer singled home Witruk for the inning's first run. Three batters later, Newton came through with a two-out hit to bring home Lauren Wendling.

Leading 3-0 to begin the fifth, Lewis & Clark scored two runs in back to back innings to overtake the Cobras. Trailing 4-3, the Cobras battled back in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly by Summer Johnson to bring home the tying run and send the game to extra innings.

The Trailblazers regained the lead on a one-out home run in the top of the eighth inning. Parkland used a walk and a single to put runners at second and third with only one out, but were unable to move the tying run the final 90 feet.