Semoball

East Carter softball slugs past Clearwater in OFC matchup

East Carter players greet Anna Willis, right, following her home run in the fifth inning Thursday afternoon, April 1, 2021, in Ellsinore, Mo.
DAR/Brian Rosener

ELLSINORE — While most of the teams in the Ozark Foothills Conference already have a fall softball season under their belt, Clearwater and Greenville are back on the diamond for the first time in nearly two years.

“This is the first fall team we’ve seen and they can tell they were on kind of a different level there than we’ve seen already this spring,” Clearwater coach Shannon England said.

The Tigers scored in each of the first four innings but gave up a seven-run second inning as East Carter stayed unbeaten with a 14-5 home win Thursday.

East Carter shortstop Honna Brown applies a tag to Clearwater's Makinlee Keister (16) during the second inning Thursday, April 1, 2021, in Ellsinore, Mo.
DAR/Brian Rosener

Honna Brown drove in five runs with three hits, senior Anna Willis hit a two-run home run and Rylee O’Dell added to her hot start to the spring season at the plate.

“Our first five batters have almost been unstoppable and the only struggles we had were at the bottom of the lineup,” East Carter coach Teresa Kearbey said.

That changed Thursday with the bottom four hitters in the order combining for six hits and six runs.

Clearwater pitcher Becca Brewington catches a grounder during the first inning Thursday afternoon, April 1, 2021, in Ellsinore, Mo.
DAR/Brian Rosener

Ciara Duckett, a freshman hitting ninth, put the Redbirds ahead for good with an RBI line-drive single in the second inning and later drove in East Carter’s final run in the fifth with a single down the third-base line. Karla Ochoa, hitting eighth, drove in a run and scored while Autumn Payne scored twice and had two hits.

Meanwhile, O’Dell had her third straight multiple-hit game, scoring twice. The junior is hitting .642 this spring and has scored eight times in four games.

“We really stepped up today and hit well,” Kearbey said.

The Redbirds (4-0, 2-0 OFC) fell behind in the first and second innings as Clearwater (2-2, 0-1) got some timely hits.

The Tigers got doubles from Emilee Chitwood, Laci Brown, Lily Kintz and Abby Cheney. Makinlee Keister was 2 for 3 while Becca Brewington and Tiffany Williams also had a hit apiece.

“We’ve hit the ball well, we’ve scored some runs but we’re giving up a lot of runs,” Coach England said.

The Tigers led 2-1 heading into the bottom of the second when East Carter scored seven times on four hits, two walks, a hit batter and a pair of errors.

Clearwater got out of the inning with a double play on a liner to the second baseman, then cut the deficit to 8-4 before giving up a pair of two-out runs in the third on a walk and three straight singles.

Willis hit a line drive over the fence in the left-field gap in the fifth and the Redbirds had the game-ending run at third but Clearwater got out of the inning and retired the side in the sixth.

“We had some good innings out there,” Coach England said.

The Redbirds will face the team that ended their fall season Tuesday when they host Twin Rivers while Clearwater hosts Doniphan in another OFC game Tuesday.

While both teams are working toward the OFC Tournament later this month, Clearwater is also looking to get better for May for the start of the spring district playoffs. The Tigers landed in Class 2 District 2 with the postseason featuring two classes for the first time.

“With the district that we’re in, I think we’re in the mix,” Coach England said. “We may take some lumps along the way, we’re inexperienced, we’re young, but hopefully in the end we’re peaking at the right time.

“Games like this (when) they push you every out, every play, is good for us. As a team, it’s hard taking those lumps along the way but it’s great games and great experience for my kids.”

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