The Glasgow Lady Yellowjackets overcame nearly flawless pitching by New Franklin ace Brynn Belstle to upset the top-ranked Lady Bulldogs 4-2 on Friday and advance to the Class 1 District 3 championship.

The fourth-seeded Jackets will now face Cairo, the second seed at 6 p.m. Monday night in Glasgow. The Lady Bearcats escaped the semis with a 1-0 win over third-seeded Jamestown in Friday’s nightcap.

Belstle was on point from the start, striking out the first two Glasgow batters in the top of the first on Friday. She then induced a ground out to retire the side in order. She then went to work at the plate in the bottom of the frame, driving in leadoff hitter Lily Chitwood with a line-drive single to left to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.

Belstle continued to dominate from the pitching circle, striking out the side in the next two innings. That’s when Glasgow coach Allison Foster decided to switch things up and play small ball.

The Jackets led off the top of the fourth with a line-drive single by Karah Graves, followed by a walk of Halle Fuemmeler, Belstle’s only walk of the day, putting two runners in base. Sophomore Aynslie Locke then caught the Bulldogs’ defense by surprise with a bunt. She beat the throw to first, which allowed Graves to score from second to tie the game.

Later in the inning, with one out, an error by the New Franklin infield allowed junior Hailey Monnig to reach first and advance to second on a ground ball up the middle. Fuemmeler then rounded third and scored the go-ahead run on the miscue, with Locke landing on third.

Back-to-back bunts from junior Brooklynn Morris and senior Hannah DeMint plated two more runs to put Glasgow in front 4-1.

“When we can bunt those in fair territory and move girls around, good things happen. I always tell my girls when we put the ball in play, and they have to make plays on us, good things are going to happen. And tonight was one of those nights,” said Glasgow coach Allison Foster. “That’s something that we always practice, knowing that small ball wins games like this. Small ball will keep you in a tight game. My girls haven’t necessarily executed that in the past, but they did tonight. It worked out well for us.”

Four runs would be enough for Glasgow, as the Jackets’ ace Brooklynn Morris held New Franklin to just one more run for the rest of the game. She gave up seven hits and issued just two walks while finishing with eight strikeouts.

“I thought that she kept us in this game, for sure,” Foster said about her starting pitcher.

Morris has been on a roll this season, recently surpassing 300 career strikeouts. She also had some help from a solid defensive performance behind her.

“Whenever we can put together the defense behind a really good pitcher, it really helps us out,” Foster said. “I’ve got one of the best outfields around, and they make just about every play that comes out there. And my infielders were on the spot tonight as well.”

New Franklin came out swinging in the bottom of the fifth and cut the lead in half. Chitwood sparked the offense with a one-out double on a hard line drive to left. Then, with two outs, Belstle drove in her second run of the day with a two-base liner to right to make the game 4-2.

Down two runs in the bottom of the seventh with the season on the line, the Bulldogs were in prime position to mount a comeback as the top of the lineup returned to the plate with one out. Chitwood sent a hard ground ball past the infield to left for her second hit of the day. She then swiped second to move into scoring position.

A popout by Emersyn Eads brought Belstle to the plate with two outs and a runner on second.

“If would have scored, we would have still had the lead. So, I wasn’t overly worried about her,” Foster said. “Getting that second out definitely helped. I felt pretty good about us once we got the two outs.” 

Fittingly, the final at-bat of the game came between the two outstanding pitchers. Belstle fouled off Morris’s first offering. She then hit a short pop-up on the second pitch, which was caught by Glasgow second baseman Leah Noll to end the game with the Jackets on top 4-2.

Glasgow finished with four runs on just three hits. Graves led the team at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Locke drove in one run on a bunt single in the fourth. The Jackets’ other RBI came off a sacrifice bunt by DeMint.

Belstle delivered a masterful performance, with an astounding 16 strikeouts. She issued just one walk and surrendered only one run.

“We knew that she’s good. She’s absolutely phenomenal,” Foster said about facing Belstle. “She pitches hard. But we’ve faced some pretty tough pitchers this year—her being one of them—and I feel like we hit them all relatively well. We’ve got some pretty good pop throughout the lineup.”

At the plate, New Franklin drove in two runs on seven hits, with doubles by Belstle and Chitwood. Belstle was just as good at the plate as she was from the pitching circle, going 3-for-4 with two RBI. Chitwood recorded a single and a double in three at-bats with a walk and two runs scored. Freshman Belle Chitwood and junior Skylar Shaw each singled. 

The loss ends New Franklin’s season at 20-5 overall, the team’s second 20-win season in three years. The Bulldogs bid farewell to seniors Brynn Belstle, Brooklynn Brown, Emersyn Eads, and Katelynn Neal.

Glasgow improves to 16-7 overall with a chance to claim the district title on Monday. The Jackets take on Cairo (23-4) at 6 p.m.