Pitching Punch Leads To District Title
The one-two pitching punch of Alexa Hopkins and Madeline McCall allowed just two runs in two district games to lead the McDonald County Lady Mustangs to their third district title in the past four years.
“The girls played well,” said coach Skyler Rawlins. “We knew it was going to be a tough game so they showed up and competed. Mo (McCall) threw very well. She gave up a hit early and had to pitch around a couple of errors, but she did a really good job of not letting them score a run in the first inning. That gave us a little time for us to get our offense going a little bit.”
McCall’s one-hitter keyed
McDonald County to a 3-0 win over Seneca in the championship game. The sophomore right-hander struck out 11 and never walked a batter in going the distance.
Seneca’s best scoring opportunity came in the top of the first when the Lady Indians put runners on second and third with one out on a pair of errors.
But McCall left the runners stranded when she struck out the final two batters of the inning.
Seneca’s only other baserunner came on a leadoff single by Bailey Lannon in the third. But Lannon was erased on the bases before McCall retired the final 14 batters in order.
McDonald County scored the only run it would need in the second off Seneca’s Chelsea
Belville. Whitney Kinser reached on a dropped third strike to lead off the inning. Kinser stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. With two out, Kinser scored on the Lady Indian’s second passed ball of the inning.
McDonald County added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Rita Santillan reached second on a two-base error and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kristin Cornell. Regan Myrick drove in a run with a sacrifice fly before Kinser hit her team-leading sixth homer of the season over the right-centerfield fence.
Belville held the Lady Mustangs to just three hits while striking out 12 in six innings.
Kinser finished with two hits. Santillan had the only other McDonald County hit.
McDonald County improved to 21-2 for the season with its two wins in the Missouri Class 3 District 12 Championships.
“That’s another goal checked off the list,” Rawlins said of the district title. “This is the one that gets us to where we want to be. The most important game is the next one and we have not gotten past this next step. We just have to come out and play. We don’t have to do anything special — just compete and see what happens.”
The district title gave McDonald County a rematch against Logan-Rogersville on
Oct. 23 at Logan Rogersville High School.
In their first meeting, the Lady Wildcats claimed a 3-0 win over McDonald County on Oct. 3 at Logan-Rogersville. Freshman Halle Miles tossed a no-hitter to lead Logan-Rogersville to the win while McCall allowed three runs on just two hits to take the loss.
Carl Junction
Hopkins allowed two runs, one earned, in six innings to lead McDonald County to a 10-2 win over Carl Junction on Oct. 17 in the tournament semifinals. McCall struck out the side in the seventh in one inning of relief.
Carl Junction took a 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the top of the third.
But McDonald County answered with five runs in the bottom half of the inning. Myrick had a two-run single while hits by Kinser and McCall drove in two more. Santillan had the other Lady Mustang hit in the inning, while Cornell walked and Carl Junction committed a pair of errors.
McDonald County added three runs in the fourth on two errors, a single by Santillan and a two-run double by Kinser.
Hopkins’ single and doubles by McCall and Kaylee Eberley led to McDonald County’s final two runs in the fifth.
Carl Junction scored its only other run in the fourth on two singles, a sacrifice and a fielder’s choice.