MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Boyd Buchanan Lady Buccaneer softball team had a memorable season, but it just didn’t end like they would have liked.

They finished as the Division II-A state runner-up after falling 3-1 to Tipton-Rosemark Thursday afternoon at MTSU’s Lady Blue Raider softball stadium.

But what a turnaround the Lady Bucs had after getting run-ruled 13-3 by Friendship Christian in Tuesday’s opening round. The Lady Bucs eliminated USJ to stay alive before getting even with those Lady Commandos as they advanced with a solid 7-2 victory.

Boyd Buchanan coach Sarah Warren Bowles will never admit that she enjoys finishing second at anything, but she was most proud of her team for such a great comeback on the last day of the season, not to mention the hard work they put in all year as they finished with 34 wins against just six defeats.

“I think we were just a little bit more settled in today than we were on Tuesday, but we were able to stay calm and avoid giving up a big inning,” Bowles said after the first win that was played at Smyrna’s Cedar Stone Park.

“I thought that Malloree Harr pitched exceptionally well, but we still have one more to play. But we always seem to want to do things the hard way,” she laughed, thinking about the two first-inning runs in the game with Friendship Christian.

Bowles was still extremely proud of a great season and she was quick to say that the final loss to the Lady Rebels would not overshadow what had been a super spring.

“We just didn’t hit. We fought back, but Malloree was just tired and I thought Peyton Schwieter did a great job in relief. We proved that we belonged here and I’m confident that we’ll be back next year, but we had a heckuva season. We had a great group of kids who really enjoyed spending time together and I hate that it had to come to an end today,” she added after picking up the coaches runner-up award.

Tipton-Rosemark coach Johnie Sanfratello was just happy to win after winning his first state title with this team in 2014.

“I thought that Lanie Howe was just totally dominant in the circle, but it’s been that way for her all season,” he began while the post-tournament awards were being presented.

“We got the lead early, but were never able to get a big hit to blow it open. I knew we could do it, but it’s been just too long since that last one. Errors have been our downfall all season, but we were able to win despite the ones we made today,” he nodded.

Howe got the win as she limited the Lady Buccaneers to just five hits. Cai Cai Butler, the only Lady Buc with two hits, singled with two outs in the third before Keke Jordan singled to put two runners on. Harr then hit a grounder to the pitcher that was mishandled, allowing Boyd’s only run to score.

Mercedes Smith had a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh, but was erased when Kinley Bates bounced into a 6-4-3 double play.

The Lady Rebels did all of their scoring early with a single run in the first before adding two more in the second.

Peyton Sykes had a one-out single in the first and scored on a two-out single by Howe.

Then in the first after Hailey Crull and Lauren Pickett both singled with one out, Allie Nicholas then singled to load the bases before another single by Lola Sprenkle drove in Crull and courtesy runner Baylee Rogers.

It turns out that Howe didn’t need any more support

Tipton-Rosemark finished the game with nine hits with Howe being the only one with two. All total, eight of the nine Lady Rebels had at least one.

Howe was the winning pitcher after allowing the one unearned run on five hits. She also walked one and had four strikeouts.

Harr was tagged with the loss after allowing all three runs on six hits before being replaced by Schwieter with one out in the second.

Harr was the only Lady Buc with two hits in the win against Friendship as the Lady Bucs finished the game with eight.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY

TIPTON-ROSEMARK 120 000 0 – 3 9 2

BOYD BUCHANAN 001 000 0 – 1 5 0

Howe and Pickett; Harr, Schwieter (2) and Jordan.

LOSERS BRACKET FINAL SUMMARY

FRIENDSHIP CHRISTIAN 200 000 0 – 2 9 1

BOYD BUCHANAN 230 200 x – 7 8 0

Johnson, Eden (2) and Box; Harr and Jordan.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)