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Her teammates call her TOBs — “The Other Bailey” — to distinguish her from senior center fielder Balee Shiplet, but it isn’t because freshman left fielder Bailey Robson is an afterthought on the Marion softball team.
Robson certainly had a memorable game in the first half of a doubleheader against Moundridge on Friday, driving in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Montana Percell had tied the game at 5, scoring from third on a passed ball earlier in the inning. With Kayla Kroupa on third with two outs, Robson broke her bat on a ground ball.
Kroupa ran home while Moundridge fielded the ball and threw to first base. The Moundridge first baseman caught the ball while Robson was still a half step from the base, but she didn’t have her foot on the bag. Robson was safe when the first baseman couldn’t find the bag in time, and Kroupa scored to give Marion a walk-off victory.
When the officials sorted out the call at first base, Robson’s teammates swarmed her outside the home dugout.
It wasn’t a cheap victory for the Warriors, though. The bat Robson broke in hitting the game-winner was a new composite bat, costing about $350, Athletic Director Grant Thierolf said.
Robson also had the Warriors’ first RBI of the game with a single to center field. She also had a run-saving catch in the outfield, as did fellow outfielders Shiplet and Kroupa.
The Warriors had to make a pair of comebacks before they could win the game. Moundridge got out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but Robson and Megan Richmond each drove in a run in the bottom of the second. Moundridge again took a lead with a three-run fourth inning.
Jay Dee Schafers narrowed the gap with a triple and a run on a passed ball in the fourth, and Kroupa drove in a run with a double in the fifth.
Marion didn’t need to make a comeback in the second game against Moundridge. The Warriors jumped out to a big lead early and held on for the victory.