Kennett rallies past Malden 6-2 in BHC softball championship
SENATH, Mo. - It took a late offensive spurt but the Kennett Indians softball team found a way to repeat as champions at the Bootheel Conference Tournament late Wednesday night at Senath.
No. 2 seeded Kennett scored all six of its runs after the fifth inning as it rallied from a 2-0 deficit to upend the No. 1 seeded Malden Green Wave 6-2 in the title game of the Bootheel Conference Tournament.
Kennett avenged a 7-2 loss to regular-season conference champion Malden with the victory.
“I could not be more proud of this group of girls,” Kennett softball coach Laurie Vaughan said of her squad winning the tournament for a second straight season. “Our girls came together as a team and rose up to the occasion tonight. We knew Malden was going to come out and bring it and we were going to have to play our hearts out. I told them before the game, ‘All I ask is you play your hearts out and have no regrets at the end of this game.’
"They want to step up and play at a high level again and they showed it tonight," Vaughan added. "They really stepped up. They made some great plays and did the things they were asked to do. I couldn’t be more proud of them. This is the boost we needed to come together as a team going into our district next week..”
Malden jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Katie Schuffler collected a leadoff double and Lexi Campbell followed by hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the third inning.
Kennett stranded four runners in scoring position in the first five innings but failed to score.
Things changed in the top of the sixth inning when Kennett’s first four hitters reached base.
The trouble started for Malden when Kayton Harris drew a leadoff walk. Sydni McAtee followed with a double to put runners at second and third with nobody out. The next two hitters, Whitnee Duncan and Emillie Johnson, each collected a one-RBI single to tie things up at 2-2.
A two-out RBI single by Caroline Byers later in the sixth gave Kennett a 3-2 lead.
Kennett tacked on three insurance runs to set the final score in the top of the seventh inning. Harris and Johnson had RBI singles and McAtee drove home a runner from third base when she grounded out in the top of the seventh.
“Even in the first five innings, we left runners on base so it wasn’t that we didn’t have confidence that we could score,” Vaughan said of the late offensive surge. “Things just didn’t fall the way we needed them to fall early. We had opportunities and I think the girls saw we were never truly out of the game. I’ve always said from the very beginning, ‘Kennett is the group that is never going to give up.’ And you saw that tonight. They had opportunities the entire game and things finally fell through for us in the final innings.”
Kennett starting pitcher Johnson retired the final six hitters she faced after her team took the lead in the top of the sixth inning. She allowed two runs (one earned), six hits, struck out six and did not walk a hitter in an 87-pitch seven-inning outing.
“Emillie has had to step up this past week,” Vaughan said. “She hadn’t pitched any varsity innings before this past Friday and Saturday. She did a great job over the weekend and really stepped up in this championship game. She’s a great competitor and will do what’s asked of her. She did a great job holding her composure tonight against a Malden team that can get you rattled. She also had confidence in our defense and our defense stepped up and did what they had to do as well.”
Hope Hartman also went the distance in the circle for Malden. She allowed six earned runs, 12 hits, struck out four and walked one in a 93-pitch outing.
Campbell finished 2 for 3 for Malden.
Meagan Pickens was 3 for 4 for Kennett. McAtee and Duncan were 2 for 4. Johnson finished 2 for 3.
Malden and Kennett both support a 12-6 record after Wednesday’s conference championship.
No. 2 Kennett 6, No. 1 Malden 2
KHS 000 003 3 - 6 13 1
MHS 002 000 0 - 2 5 0
W - Emillie Johnson. LP - Hope Hartman. HR - Lexi Campbell (M). 2B - Sydni McAtee (K), Hartman (M). Multiple hits - Kennett: Meagan Pickens 3-4, McAtee 2-4, Whitnee Duncan 2-4, Johnson 3-4; Malden: Campbell 2-3.
SEMIFINAL: Malden 20, Senath-Hornersville 5
Top-seeded Malden hit three home runs and two doubles as it pounded its way past the No. 4 seeded Senath-Hornersville Lions 20-5 in its semifinal Wednesday afternoon.
The Green Wave enjoyed an 11-0 lead after three innings of play before Senath-Hornersville scored five runs in the top of the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 11-5. Malden followed with nine additional runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to secure a four-inning run-rule victory.
Malden collected nine hits and drew 16 walks against Senath-Hornersville.
“We are definitely becoming more patient at the plate,” Malden coach Angela Rodgers said. “Our hitting looked good today. Our defense also looked much better. We’ve struggled to put hitting and defense together. We were finally able to do that today and I think we are ready to finish out the season strong.”
Madison Saulsbery collected a complete game win for Malden in the circle. She allowed five runs, five hits, struck out two and walked six in four innings pitched.
“She’s a freshman that has a lot to grow on,” Rodgers said. “She just has to stay confident and she will continue to get better as she gets older.”
Senath-Hornersville collected four of its five hits and drew four walks in the top of the fourth inning. Natalie Vilchis, who finished 2 for 2, collected a 2 RBI single for the Lions in the frame. Sissy Johnson added an RBI single and Haley Cunningham and Madi Shrum drew bases-loaded walks to account for Senath-Hornersville’s other three runs.
Seven Malden hitters drove home runs.
Leadoff hitter Lexi Campbell finished 3 for 4 with a 2 RBI double. No. 2 hitter Lana Reed hit a two-run homer and drew three walks. No. 3 hitter Gracie Thomas hit a two-run homer and drew two walks.
Cleanup hitter Hope Hartman hit a two-run homer, drew two walks and was hit by a pitch was the bases loaded. No. 7 hitter Macy Walker finished 2 for 4 with a 2 RBI single and 2 RBI double. No. 9 hitter Katie Shuffler added an RBI single.
No. 6 hitter Baylee Johnson also drew a bases-loaded walk and drove home a runner from third when she grounded out in the third inning.
“We’ve worked on not swinging at anything over our head and I think that helped us get those home runs today,” Rodgers said.
No. 1 Malden 20, No. 4 Senath-Hornersville 5
SHS 000 5 - 5 5 1
MHS 263 9 - 20 9 0
WP - Madison Saulsbery. LP - Madi Shrum. HR - Lana Reed (M), Gracie Thomas (M), Hope Hartman (M). 2B - Lexi Campbell (M), Macy Walker (M). Multiple hits - Malden: Campbell 3-4, Walker 2-4; Senath-Hornersville: Natalie Vilchis.
SEMIFINAL: Kennett 11, Campbell 10
The second semifinal between No. 2 seeded Kennett and the No. 6 seeded Campbell Camels came down to the final at-bat.
Campbell drove home two runs in the top of the seventh inning to cut an 11-8 deficit to 11-10 and put the tying run at second base with two outs. Starting pitcher Hailee Potts followed by getting No. 9 hitter Maci Hendrix to pop out to first baseman Adelynn Nelson for the final out as Kennett hung on to beat Campbell 11-10.
“I thought we played good enough to win,” Kennett coach Laurie Vaughan said. “I hope we can pick it up a notch our next game. We are struggling to come together as a team right now. We’ve had to make some adjustments because of injuries. We’ve had to fight through some adversity this year. But I see them coming together in the end and that’s what we want.”
Campbell enjoyed a 1-0 lead after Elizabeth Steward collected a leadoff double and Hannah Farmer followed with an RBI single in the top of the first inning.
Kennett moved ahead 3-1 when it plated three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Adelynn Nelson hit a two-run home run and Kamryn Nelson recorded a sacrifice fly in the second.
The Indians padded its lead to 4-1 when Claira Green drove home a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth inning.
Campbell moved back ahead 6-4 when it scored five additional runs in the top of the fifth inning. Madison Burns, Alexis Weidenbenner, and Hannah Farmer each had an RBI single for Campbell in the frame. Kaylee Holston also collected a 2 RBI double.
Kennett responded with its own five-spot in the bottom of the fifth inning to move back ahead 9-6. Caroline Byers hit a two-run homer and Sydni McAtee hit a three-run homer to spark the rally.
“I’m glad they had an opportunity to get those big hits,” Vaughan said. “We just keep telling them to get their swings in and look for the right pitch.”
Campbell cut the deficit to 9-8 with two runs in the top of the sixth inning but Kennett tacked on two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pad its lead back to three runs at 11-8.
Farmer, who finished 4 for 4 with four RBIs, hit a two-run homer for the Camels in the top of the sixth inning.
McAtee, who finished 2 for 4 with four RBIs, collected an RBI single for Kennett in the bottom of the sixth inning. Kayton Harris drove home an insurance run for Kennett in the bottom of the sixth when she grounded out with a runner on third.
The Indians needed every bit of its insurance in the top of the seventh as the Camels had one run score on an infield error and a second run score when Delaney Weeks grounded out on the infield.
Potts collected a complete game win for Kennett. She allowed 10 runs (six earned), 14 hits, struck out three and did not walk a hitter in a 95-pitch seven-inning performance.
“I thought Hailee did a great job,” Vaughan said. “When you have your defense behind you it helps and I was very proud of both of our pitchers tonight.”
No. 2 Kennett 11, No. 6 Campbell 10
CHS 100 052 2 - 10 14 2
KHS 030 152 X - 11 12 4
W - Hailee Potts. LP - Hannah Littrell. HR - Caroline Byers (K), Sydni McAtee (K), Adelynn Nelson (K), Hannah Farmer (C). 2B - Kayton Harris (K) Kaylee Holston (C) 2, Elizabeth Steward (C) 2. Multiple hits - Kennett: Kamryn Nelson 3-3, McAtee 2-4, Whitnee Duncan 2-4, Byers 2-3; Campbell: Steward 3-4, Farmer 4-4, Holston 2-4, Claire Parker 2-4.