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Issue date: 4/27/06 Section: Sports

Katy Lauder, Granite Shoals, Texas, throws to first base during a game against Colby at Tangeman Sports Complex April 12. The Busters fell to Colby 12-1 in game one and 2-6 in game two.

The softball team's win streak was snapped when they traveled to Colby, Kan., to face the Trojans for the third time this season.

Garden faced Colby for the first time at Tangeman Sports Complex, only to see starting pitcher Tahnie Young, Salt Lake City, Utah, go to the dugout mid-way through game one as Mandy Rutledge, Anna, Texas, took the mound to finish out the game.

The Busters fell to Colby, 12-1, and watched as Colby took control again, ending the second game with a 6-2 win.

"Colby just hit better than we did," Head coach Phil Terpstra said. "They outplayed us, we got down in a hole after they had several good hits and we never recovered."

Despite the losses, the Busters didn't let that bother them when they headed to Colby to participate in the Colby Tournament on April 22-23.

This time the tables would be turned, as Garden opened the tournament with a win against Colby, 6-1. This was the momentum they needed, as the Busters went on to sweep the tournament on a perfect 5-0 run. They defeated North Platte 4-2 in their second game, Western Nebraska 5-2, Lamar 11-6, and North Platte 7-4 in the final game.

In the final game on Sunday, Rutledge picked up her third complete-game victory during the tourney as she scattered six hits. Gennifer Brown, Elgin, Ariz., hit her third home run and second grand slam of the tournament.

"We had a lot of clutch hits, that was the biggest difference," Terpstra said. "It's been a few years since we've gone to a tournament and won the entire thing."

Terpstra said Colby is a very formidable team, but the Busters were just hitting better and Colby wasn't hitting as well as they had the first two games against Garden.

Once again the Busters would find themselves facing Colby in a double-header. Once more the Busters would find themselves trailing early in the game, finding it hard to score runs.

"It's hard to score runs when you can't get many hits," Young said. "It's frustrating, but there is nothing you can do but hope to play better in the Region VI tournament."

The Busters only had five hits in both games, and scored one run off a Gina Burdick, Shawnee, Kan., homerun in the first game. Garden fell to Colby 10-1 in game one and wasn't able to earn any runs in game two, falling 1-0.

"We were taking bad pitches," Ashley Arbon, Tooele, Utah, said. "We weren't being selective, just swinging at everything." "It seemed like they scored every inning."

Young has been fighting a strained bicep tendon in her pitching arm, but that hasn't seemed to slow her progress, pitching the first game of every double header.

"I've always had a problem with my arm ever since high school," Young said. "It's just something you have to play through,"

The Busters will face Cloud County on April 29, at Tangeman Athletic Complex, as they round out their last regular season game.

"Hopefully we will come on strong like we did last season in the Region VI tournament," Young said. "You just never know what will happen."

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