KANE — Karns City's Ashton Pakutz was denied a would-be game-tying home run in the third inning and the Gremlins went on to drop a 9-6 decision to Kane in a District 9 Class AA softball semifinal Wednesday.

The Gremlins trailed 5-2 and had two runners on base when Pakutz hit the ball over the right fielder's head. She circled the bases and apparently scored the tying run standing up.

The plate umpire ruled Pakutz missed the plate, however, called her out and awarded her a triple as the inning ended.

"I thought she caught the corner of the plate, but (the umpire) felt differently,"Karns City coach Mike Simpson said. "Icame down the baseline and pointed to a spike mark on the corner of the plate.

"The umpire said there was no way of knowing whether that mark came from Ashton, though."

Kane (15-4) put the game away by scoring four times in the fourth inning. Karns City scored twice in the seventh, but came up short.

"Ashton's hit was our third in a row that inning,"Simpson said. "We got on a bit of a roll there, but that call kind of shut things down for us."

Samantha Bly had a double and two singles to pace the Gremlins' eight-hit attack.

Trisha Johnson had two doubles and a single for Kane.

Winning pitcher Kayla Swartz went the distance, striking out eight.

Kane will face Moniteau in the district championship game Wednesday.

Karns City 202 000 2—6 8 2Kane 230 400 x—9 7 2W: Kayla Swartz (7 IP, 8 K, 2 BB).

L: Ashton Pakutz (4 IP, 5 K, 4 BB).

Karns City (10-7): Allyson Kepple 2B 1B, Samantha Bly 2B 2-1B, Ashton Pakutz 3B, Brandi Dunkle 2B, Haley Bachman 1B

Kane (15-4): Trisha Johnson 2-2B 1B, Brooke Mortina 3B

Wednesday: District 9 Class AAchampionship, Kane vs. Moniteau, 4:30 p.m., site TBA