This weekend the Cats with bats were in the Fort Zumwalt East tournament. They played their first game Thursday, and then two games on Saturday. Going into the tournament the cats were ready to roll. 

“Leading into the tournament I knew that we were all tired and most of us were nursing some sort of injury, but I was confident in my teammates and knew that we have worked hard this year, and it shows on the field,” said senior third baseman Jadyn Patton.

For the first game, the Cats traveled to St. Charles West to play against The Warriors. Going into the game there was a visible mental battle shown on the field due to last season’s loss to St. Charles West in 2021 the district championship.

The first game was a struggle for the Cats. Going into the game they knew they were the better team. St. Charles West had a record of 0-11 before the game. The Cats got an early lead and scored three runs in the first inning and then a few errors later the Warriors were up 10-6 going into the 6th inning. 

At this point in the game, junior shortstop Molly Kate Bugh said, “We really wanted revenge after losing to them in the district championship last year and I know we are a better team, so I never really lost hope because I know how we can bounce back and get the bats going.”

In the sixth inning the Cats with Bats came back strong batting all the way through the lineup and driving in 10 runs. Then the Cats were able to lock down the defense for two more innings and hold the Warriors to 10. 

The Cats played North Point High school in an exciting second game on Saturday morning. North Point came out with an early lead and a homerun in the first inning, but the Cats battled back. The game was tied six all in the 7th inning with two outs and a runner on second and Sophomore, Allie Branstetter drove in the game winning run. 

When asked about the game against North Point, junior catcher Ellie Berkland said, “It was so insane and fun, I felt really good about how our team played and I’m just glad we came out on top. It’s so fun to bond in that way because close games are so exciting and I think that game showed our team’s ability because North Point was a really good team.”

The championship game was much less exciting than the previous game, Westminster would be taking on St. Charles highschool who they had previously beat 12-3. The cats came out strong in the championship game and beat St. Charles 16-2 ending with a mercy rule in the fifth inning. 

“I think the biggest positive was the character that the girls showed. We trailed in every game, dealt with injuries, handled the weather, and had contributions from the entire lineup. We had 49 hits in three games and are competing at a high level right now,” said Coach Petke.

The Cats also traveled to Linn Missouri for the Linn Wildcat’s tournament. The team started off the weakened Friday afternoon with a game against St. Francis Borgia. The game was scoreless for the first few innings and the Wildcats eventually fell to a 10-0 loss after a few big innings for Borgia. 

The team then got to spend the night in a hotel together and many of the players said the team bonding at the hotel made the trip. “The team bonding was such a fun thing to do especially since I’m a freshman and it really helped me to just laugh with some people I don’t normally spend time with.” Said Freshman Addi Drumm

Saturday the cats played two more games before returning home. The first game Saturday was a hard fought loss to Belle. The cats had a short break before they had to take on the Linn Wildcats at their home field. The cats came out strong and beat Linn 11-7 which was a huge win to be able to salvage the weekend. The Linn Wildcats ended up winning the tournament despite their loss to Westminster.

The Cats finished the regular season 16-6 which was a nice improvement over last years 10-13. The Cats look forward to playoffs and are hoping to have a strong showing.