MCHS Softball Storms Back To Win Tournament
The McDonald County Lady Mustangs softball team lost its first game at the Central Missouri State Tournament held on Sept. 22 in Warrensburg.
But that proved to be just a minor setback as the Lady Mustangs bounced back with four straight wins, including an 8-2 decision over Holden in the title game, to claim the tournament championship game.
“We saw some good and different teams that we have never seen,” said coach Skyler Rawlins. “It’s nice to play somebody different. We played well. We swung the bats well and threw it well from the circle. I thought our bats finally came alive a little bit this weekend.”
McDonald County scored three runs in the first inning against Holden and then broke the game open with a five-run fourth after Holden cut the lead to 3-1 in the top half of the inning.
Kylie Helm doubled home a pair of runs in the first to help stake the Lady Mustangs to the early lead. In the fourth, Madeline McCall led off the inning with a home run before hits by Leslie Yousey, Rita Santillan, Chloe Colvin and Whitery Kinser
accounted for four more.
Holden scored its only other run in the fifth on a home run by Josie Day off of McCall, but the freshman right-hander got the win, allowing two runs on nine hits while striking out six. Alexa Hopkins pitched the seventh, allowing one hit.
The championship game win was almost anticlimactic, coming shortly after the Lady Mustangs beat Sherwood and Arizona State commit and 15th-ranked player of 2021 class Mac Morgan in the semifinals.
McCall and Morgan went toe-to-toe for 10 innings before the Lady Mustangs pushed across the winning run in the 10th inning.
Kristen Cornell started off the inning being placed on second base based on the international tiebreaker rule. McCall then delivered a perfect sacrifice bunt that got between the Sherwood first and second baseman for a hit, allowing Cornell to score all the way from second to give the Lady Mustangs a 2-1 lead in the top half of the inning.
McCall made the run stand up in the bottom half of the inning. With a runner on second to start the inning, a sacrifice bunt attempt hit the batter for the first out. A strikeout, an infield single and an intentional walk loaded the bases, but McCall got the last out on a pop-up to shortstop to end the game.
McCall went all 10 innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out 18.
Kinser singled and scored the Lady Mustangs first run after a single by Helm and an RBI ground out by Hopkins. McDonald County beat Warrensburg 14-4 in the first round of bracket play. Hopkins got the win, allowing four runs on nine hits in five innings.
Santillan had four hits and three RBIs to lead the offense. Hopkins add three hits and Helm had two.
Pool Play
Raymore-Peculiar defeated the Lady Mustangs 3-0 in their tourney opener.
McCall took the loss, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out seven.
Helm’s double was the lone McDonald County hit allowed by Cameron Striker, who struck out 10 in the win.
McDonald County bounced back with an 8-0 win over Knob Noster in its second pool game. Hopkins pitched a one-hit shutout for the win.
Helm had three hits while Colvin, Kristen Cornell and McCall had two each to lead the offense.
Hillcrest
The Lady Mustangs improved to 13-4 with an 11-1 win over Hillcrest on Sept. 24 at MCHS.
Yousey had three hits and Kinser had two hits and three RBIs to go along with a walk-off home run by Hopkins in the bottom of the fifth inning to power the offense.
Hopkins pitched another one-hitter, allowing only an unearned run in five innings.
Nevada
McDonald County picked up a Big 8 Conference win in a 2-0 decision over Nevada on Sept. 20 at MCHS.
Hopkins had the first of her three one-hitters in a week for the win.
McDonald County was held to three hits, but managed to score two runs in the fifth inning on a single by Colvin, a fielder’s choice and an error and a double by Helm.
McDonald County improves to 13-2 heading into its Sept. 25 game at Grove. The Lady Mustangs host Logan-Rogersville on Sept. 27. Game time is 4:30 p.m.