The New Franklin softball has had quite a start to the season. On Thursday, the Lady Bulldogs took down area powerhouse Marceline 6-5 in a late-inning nailbiter before taking down county rival Fayette for third place with two wins at the annual Boonville Tournament on Saturday.

Down 5-3 after six-and-a-half innings, New Franklin rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, scoring the winning run on a passed ball to walk off against Marceline in the season opener at home.

New Franklin laid down six singles in the game, led by Emersyn Eads and Skylar Shaw with two hits apiece.

Senior Brynn Belstle earned the win in the pitching circle in a complete seven-inning performance. She allowed five runs (3 earned) on six hits with a walk and an outstanding 13 strikeouts.

The lady Bulldogs notched their second win of the season in a 10-7 victory over Smith-Cotton in the opening round of the Boonville Tournament on Saturday. Sophomore Callie Chitwood earned her first win of the year after surrendering seven runs (5 earned) on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Belstle mopped up the final inning with back-to-back strikeouts and a ground out to earn a save in the 10-7 decision.

New Franklin trailed 7-2 after four innings but strung together five singles along with a walk and took advantage of three Smith-Cotton errors for eight runs in the come-from-behind win.

The Lady Bulldogs missed a shot at the tournament title by one run, falling to Class 4 Kirksville 5-4 in extras in the semifinals.

The teams were knotted up at four runs apiece after seven, forcing the game into extra innings. Kirksville took advantage of New Franklin’s second error of the day to score the go-ahead run. Starting the extra frame with a runner on second, Tigers shortstop Eva Danielson laid down a two-out ground ball that was mishandled by the Bulldogs infield. The error not only allowed Danielson to reach base and extend the inning, but allowed the runner to score from second.

Kirksville then retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth to hold on for the win. The Lady Tigers would go on to defeat Boonville for the tournament title.

The loss meant New Franklin would face a familiar opponent for the third-place hardware. The Lady Bulldogs held nothing back, scorching Fayette for 13 runs on 14 hits to cruise to a 13-4 win.

Callie Chitwood struck out four batters in a complete-game, five-inning performance. She gave up four earned runs on six hits and allowed no walks.

At the plate, New Franklin’s first four batters combined for 10 of the team’s 14 hits and drove in eight runs.

CannaRassa Jennings, Belstle, Brooklynn Brown, and Emersyn Eads each doubled.

Belstle drove in a game-best four runs while going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Jennings and Brown each drove in three runs, with one RBI each from Eads, Shaw, and Callie Chitwood.

New Franklin starts the season 3-1 with a road game at Slater (1-2) coming up on Thursday. The Lady Bulldogs return home to host Madison at 5 p.m. on Friday.