Rivals Rock Creek and Wamego bowed out early in the opening day of the 4A state softball tournament Thursday in Salina.
Defending two-time champion and No. 5 seed Wamego (21-5) fell 4-2 to No. 4 Clearwater (25-4) while No. 7 Rock Creek (19-8) lost 2-0 to No. 2 Eudora (26-1).
Wamego was first to score when, at the top of the opening inning, Rylee Stanley singled on a line drive to second base, sending Morgyn Evans across home plate.
Clearwater tied things up in the bottom of the inning and added one more run in the third and two in the sixth, while keeping the Red Raiders scoreless.
Wamego’s final run came at the top of the seventh when Averie Hall sent a grounder to second base, scoring Kylie Bosch.
The Red Raiders were limited to just four hits and four walks in the game.
As Wamego was playing without injured pitcher Peyton Hardenburger, Landri Adams took the loss on the mound, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
In the following game, Rock Creek, fell behind 4-0 by the bottom of the third inning. However, the Mustangs had an opportunity in the top of the fourth to catch up. The Mustang bases were loaded by the first three at bats. The next batter struck out and a Cardinal double-play stymied the opportunity.
Although neither team scored for the remainder of the game, the damage had been done.
Rock Creek ended the game with five hits and 11 strikeouts.
Brynna Zoeller took the loss for Rock Creek, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts.