Spoofhound softball takes second in Stanberry

By Jon Dykstra | September 9, 2017 |

JON DYKSTRA/DAILY FORUM
Maryville shortstop Briley Watkins throws to first in Saturday’s championship game in Stanberry against the Bulldogs.

STANBERRY, Mo. — The Maryville Spoofhounds needed a nice confidence boaster on Saturday in the Stanberry Softball Tournament.

After beating Worth County in their season opener, the Hounds had been on a five-game skid, but they were able to right the ship quickly in Stanberry.

“We played a lot better,” Spoofhound coach Chandra DeMott said. “I thought the girls played well.”

They opened the day against Northeast Nodaway, winning 6-0.

Freshman pitcher Ashlyn Alexander kept the Bluejays guessing the entire game and finished with the one-hit shutout.

The Spoofhound offense got going in the first inning with junior Emma Baldwin bunting for a base hit, something the Hounds see to be doing more and more this season.

“I like it,” Baldwin said of playing small-ball. “And I know that whenever I’m on Briley can lay one down for me. I’ve got to be smart and I just have to get there.

Freshman Briley Watkins scored the speedy Baldwin with a double and then used her speed to steal third. Alexander drove her classmate in with a groundout.

The Hounds made it 3-0 in the first with a two-out rally. Sophomore Jessica Finch walked and came around to score on a Blake Springer base-hit combined with a pair of Bluejay errors.

The score remained 3-0 until the fifth inning when the Spoofhounds tacked on three more.

Watkins and Alexander led the inning off with back-to-back singles and Springer picked up a key single later in the frame to provide some extra insurance for the Hounds.

The game was stopped after five innings.

Next up for the Spoofhounds were the North Andrew Cardinals.

Maryville was able to get on the board early once again with a two-out, first-inning rally.

Alexander and junior left fielder Jacklyn Hersh had back-to-back doubles to give Maryville the 1-0 lead.

That lead grew to 2-0 in the third inning when Baldwin scorched a triple off the fence in right-center with one out. She later scored on a Watkins sacrifice-fly.

North Andrew answered back in the top of the fourth with an unearned run coming around to score after a pair of bunts and a Spoofhound error.

Hersh singled and Finch walked with one out to jump-start the offense again in the top of the sixth. Morgan Wray drove in Hersh and a double by the team’s lone senior Beth Pederson scored Finch to give the Hounds a 4-1 lead.

“We have talked a lot about mental toughness,” DeMott said. “I think a lot of that has shown at the plate. Nobody can really have your back at the plat, it is you and the pitcher. They have really stepped up on that aspect of the game and I think its starting to show.”

North Andrew came back with another run in the sixth, but the Hounds held on for a 4-2 victory and a date with Stanberry in the championship game.

Maryville dropped the title game, 2-1 in a game that if ESPN had been covering it, would have spent the next 10 years being replayed on ESPN Classic.

The game was a pitcher’s duel between the Bulldogs’ Kalie Peterson and the Hounds’ Riley Gray.

“It is a real adrenaline rush,” Gray said of the pitchers’ duel.

Gray’s catcher was impressed with how her pitcher responded to the close game.

“She is always fighting,” Baldwin said. “She has never let this team down.”

Both pitchers threw three shutout innings to begin the game, but Stanberry cracked the scoring first in the fourth inning with Lily Osborn leading off with an infield single and eventually scoring on a Sydney Mattson groundout.

The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the sixth inning to take a 2-0 lead when Taylor McQueen led off with a single and came around to score on a double by Kierstyn McMillen.

The Hounds had one final rally attempt in the bottom of the seventh, however.

After a leaping catch in left field robbed Hersh a extra bases, Finch roped a double into the left field corner.

Springer lined out to the pitcher for the second out — something the Hounds certainly saw plenty of on Saturday when they lined into two double plays against the Bulldogs. This time Finch made it back to second ahead of the throw.

Pederson put a single into center field and stole second on the next pitch to set the stage for a showdown between junior Jillian Partridge and Peterson with two runners in scoring position.

Partridge won the battle with a sharp single into right field.

Finch scored easily and Pederson made an aggressive turn at third base — forcing a throw to third.

The move seemed to work as the throw got away from McQueen at third.

Pederson didn’t immediately realize the ball had gotten behind where she and McQueen were piled at third, but when she did, quickly got up and headed for home.

The late start doomed Pederson as the Cardinals recovered and threw home to nab the senior and end the game.

“We literally fought back until the last play so I can’t complain,” DeMott said.

Pederson was injured on play and came up with a bloodied knee.

All and all though, the Hounds were very happy with their 2-1 day and second place finish.

“I think we did pretty well,” Baldwin said. “We came together as a team and we played the game that we know. We have battled this whole year. These last two games, we rallied pretty well and didn’t quit. We aren’t a group of quitters.

UP NEXT

The Spoofhounds host North Nodaway on Monday and Chillicothe on Tuesday.

NE NODAWAY

The Bluejays finished the tournament 1-2 with a 8-3 victory over North Andrew and a 8-4 loss to Stanberry in addition to the loss against Maryville.

JON DYKSTRA/DAILY FORUM
Maryville pitcher Ashlyn Alexander, left, and first baseman Riley Gray, right, celebrate a strikeout in Saturday’s game in Stanberry against North Andrew.