By CONOR NICHOLL

cnicholl@dailynews.net

LARNED -- Wind gusts up to 39 miles per hour changed the tactics and philosophy for the Thomas More Prep-Marian softball team in its first playoff game Monday afternoon at the Class 3A Regional Championships.

The Larned Community Center had two softball fields, Mitch Webster Field and Ralph Terry Field. On Webster, the wind was blowing out at a strong clip and any ball hit in the air was likely a homer. At Terry Field, the wind blew from right field to left field and the entire game was played into or across the wind.

"Had we been playing over there (at Webster), we would have hit a mass of home runs, there was no doubt about it," Monarch coach Alan Billinger said. "It's a 360 difference between here and there."

Ball flight and power was limited at Terry Field, where the Monarchs faced Hoisington in the regional semifinals. Instead, TMP-Marian relied more on baserunning to create havoc because the wind limited throws down to second base from the catcher on attempted steals.

The running game worked perfectly as the Monarchs captured a 14-0, five inning win. Hoisington junior starter Kayci Boxberger issued nine walks and TMP-Marian stole six bases in four innings. The Monarchs advanced multiple times off errant pickoff and throws on stole base attempts.

"We knew that they were going to have some control problems," Billinger said. "The catchers are throwing into the wind, we decided that we were going to run more today, run the bases and take advantage of that."

Offensively, the Monarchs scored in every inning and collected just six hits, including a long home run by junior Maddie Holub.

The team's starting pitcher, Holub (10-0) permitted one hit and struck out eight in four innings.

Coupled with a first-round bye, the Monarchs improved to 20-1 and will face No. 3 seed Larned in the regional final on Wednesday afternoon at 4:45 p.m. Larned (11-6), defeated Scott City 10-2 and Lakin 7-1.

Larned lost to the Monarchs 19-2 and 8-1 earlier this spring, but is one of four teams that stayed within seven runs of TMP-Marian. A win would move the Monarchs, the defending Class 4A champions, into a state tournament for the fifth straight season.

"We have to play our game." Holub said. "We can't take them lightly."

First, the Monarchs dispatched Hoisington (6-14). which run-ruled Holcomb 14-1 earlier Monday on Webster Field. The two teams faced off at Terry, where every ball was an adventure -- one of several games this spring that the Monarchs have played in windy conditions.

"It wasn't the worst we have had," Holub said.

It did, however, change the strategy.

The wind caused fly balls hit down to the left-field line to quickly curve and hook out of play. Hoisington fielders also dropped several fly balls that swirled in the wind.

"We saw a ball that hit in the first game, just inside of second base and the catcher ended up catching it," Billinger said. "It is really tricky out there to play."

Instead, the Monarchs put pressure on the Cardinals from the start by running the bases.

Sophomore Kaylee Hoffman led off the bottom of the first with a five-pitch walk, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on another passed ball. Senior second baseman Chelsea Fieler followed with another walk and scored in similar fashion.

In the second inning, junior left fielder Heidi Fieler drew another walk and stole second. Hoisington junior catcher's Tara Schremmer's throw was errant and bounced into center field. Fieler came all the way around to score.

Hoffman followed with another walk, kept on running and eventually reached third base. On a Boxberger pitch, Hoffman took off down the third-base line and stopped midway between third and home. When the throw went to third, Hoffman raced home.

Holub also powered her sixth homer of the season through the wind and over the left-center field fence in the fourth inning.

"It may have (landed) in the grotto (at TMP)," Billinger said with a smile. "The home run surprised me. ... That was a great hit for us."

In the fourth, Billinger emptied his entire bench, gave everyone an at-bat. In the fifth inning when Hoisington batted, every player switched positions and Hoffman, Wednesday's starter against Larned, got the final three outs.

"They didn't," know where they were playing, Billinger said with a smile.

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The TMP-Marian baseball team lost 12-9 to Larned in its regional on Monday. The Monarchs finished 6-11.