Jackson run-rules Seckman, punches ticket to district semifinal

Jackson pitcher Karli Johnson fires a pitch against Seckman in a Class 5 District 1 quarterfinal matchup Tuesday at Fox High School in Arnold, Missouri.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

ARNOLD, Mo. — Jackson’s softball team didn’t waste much time punching its ticket to the Class 5 District 1 quarterfinals.

The Indians were hot at the plate and starting pitcher Karli Johnson torched opposing batters to lead Jackson past eight-seeded Seckman 11-1 in five innings Tuesday afternoon at Fox High School.

Johnson struck out 11 Jaguar batters in just five innings of work, bringing her season total to 245.

“I came out there and just wanted to make sure I hit my spots,” Johnson said. “They’re a good hitting team but I executed and it felt good.”

Johnson gave up just one hit and one run in the contest, also walking a batter.

“She is phenomenal,” Indians coach Shawn Wilding said. “She’s been phenomenal all season.”

Jackson's Kylie Darrow celebrates after scoring a run against Seckman in a Class 5 District 1 quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday at Fox High School.

J.C. Reeves ~ jcreeves@semoball.com

In addition to Jackson’s strong defense against Seckman, the Indians’ bats were on fire with four batters recording multiple hits.

Freshman Jaylie Walther paced the Indians, going 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and driving in three runs.

Seniors Miranda Ladson and Miranda Carnell also hit the ball well, each recording a double and batting in two runs apiece. Ladson was 3-for-4 at the dish and Carnell went 2-for-4.

“We focused on just staying back and finding the center,” Wilding said. “Slower pitching or average pitching sometimes gets to us a little bit. We’d like to get out ahead. We get all antsy in the batter’s box and we get ourselves out. Today it was just about staying focused, finding the middle of the ball and hitting the middle of the ball.”

The Indians (21-7) will face Notre Dame — a team that beat Jackson with a walk-off home run on Sept. 23 — on Thursday at Fox High School with a district championship berth on the line.

“It’s a big deal,” Johnson said. “We haven’t won districts in like 20 or 22 years and it would be really cool to make history this year with this team. I really think we can do it.

“I definitely think, because this is my senior year, I’d like to go out with a boom and win districts because I’ve worked all my life for this exact moment.”

Wilding looks forward to the opportunity for his team to match up against the Bulldogs (19-11) again.

“Everybody wants the lower seed, of course,” Wilding said. “We want a rematch with them and to send them home. They walked off against us earlier in the season, and we’d like to send them home for the season.”