photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

The Free State softball team huddles prior to its game against Wichita Northwest on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka.

TOPEKA – Before postseason play began, Free State softball head coach Charley Bowen knew his team had to limit mistakes to give itself a chance.

The 10th-seeded Firebirds played a relatively clean game through four innings before two costly errors in the bottom of the fifth allowed No. 7-seeded Wichita Northwest to score three runs in the frame en route to ending Free State’s season in the regional semifinals, 6-4, at Hummer Sports Park.

“(Errors) are critical in any game, you know?” head coach Charley Bowen said. “It’s kind of like I said this year to them, ‘It just seems like when we can get out of an inning, something happens and we don’t get out of it.’ (We) just have to focus a little more and make those plays.”

Jace Feurt earned the start in the circle, going 5 1/3 innings and allowing six hits, six unearned runs, and a walk while striking out three batters.

“She pitched good enough to win the game,” Bowen said. “She fights hard, she works hard, and you know, she gets upset, but as a team we’ve got to rally behind her, and we didn’t do that.”

The Firebirds swung hard out of the gates, plating three runs in the opening frame, as Mallary Hice drove in Sophia Halton with a triple, Hice scored on an error and Sarai Preston came home on a single by Avery Sack.

“We came out strong,” Bowen said. “We’ve done that this year to come out in the first inning, score a couple runs, and then all of a sudden we go stagnant.”

Bowen said the stagnation offensively had to do with the performance of Wichita Northwest starter Lillian Hoffman, who pitched a complete game and struck out six batters while allowing four runs on nine hits and three walks.

“(Hoffman) settled in a little more,” Bowen said. “She’s a good pitcher… I think (Wichita Northwest) settled in, too, and then they got a little momentum.”

Feurt induced two quick groundouts before allowing a single and a walk. The sophomore never wavered, striking out the next batter she faced to end the first.

Free State stranded a pair of runners in the top of the second and went down in order in the top of the third. Wichita Northwest capitalized in the bottom of the third with a two-RBI triple before tying the game with a double.

Maya Friedman began the top of the fourth with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before scoring on a triple by Preston, putting the Firebirds back in the lead.

An opportune moment to tie the game presented itself for the Grizzlies in the bottom of the fifth when Tharon Thomas hit a one-out double and moved to third on a groundout. Thomas came across as the tying run on an error before the second error of the frame plated two more runs to give Wichita Northwest its first lead.

Bowen said that the fifth-inning miscues put more pressure on his team in the final two frames, as it had to play from behind and find its way out of a deficit for the first time all game.

“You put more pressure on yourself when you make mistakes,” he said. “We could have gotten out innings a couple times without giving up runs… Any time it gets late in the game, and you feel pressure, that’s when you know sometimes it doesn’t work.”

Friedman and Halton led off the top of the sixth with back-to-back singles. The Grizzlies, however, kept their two-run advantage in hand with a fielder’s choice, strikeout and groundout.

Feurt’s outing ended with a strikeout as AJ Collins entered the circle in relief to face the top of the lineup. Collins hit the first batter she faced before Rory Scarlett erased the baserunner by catching her stealing, and Collins induced a lineout to give Free State one more chance at the plate.

The top of the seventh began with a single by Feurt. She moved to second on a groundout before a strikeout put the Firebirds down to their last out. A bunt attempt was unsuccessful as the Grizzlies recorded the last out to advance to the regional championship.

Free State’s season ends with a record of 10-14, as Bowen says there were some habits throughout the season that the team was just never able to clean up.

“(We) just have to go back to the drawing board next year, work harder, and try to fix the errors and mistakes and be better,” Bowen said.