McDonald County softball ends Neosho season

It was a pitchers’ duel for five innings. Then in the sixth, McDonald County exploded.

The Lady Mustangs used a nine-run sixth inning to down the Neosho Lady Wildcats, 12-2 in the semifinal round of the Class 4 District 12 tournament. McDonald County will now move on and face Webb City this afternoon at 1:30 p.m. for the district title.

In the first inning, Neosho struck first. After a bunt single by Morgan Rathmann, Hailey Geller drove her home on an RBI single to give the Lady Cats a 1-0 lead.

McDonald County answered back in the bottom half of the inning when a screaming line drive flew just past the reach of Neosho shortstop Ashley Gilion for an RBI single.

After trading a pair of scoreless innings, Kortlyn Wilkey led off the top of the fourth.

Wilkey, the hero in Neosho’s first round win over Carthage, belted a solo shot over the fence in left field sending the Lady Wildcats up 2-1 and sending the Neosho bench into a frenzy.

“Kortlyn’s home run was great,” Neosho coach Melissa Clark said. “I have known that she has that in her all season long. I was glad to see her hit that home run tonight in a district game. What better time to have it?”
Once again, McDonald County was equal to the challenge. Ashton Pratt evened the score for the Lady Mustangs with an RBI bunt single in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score back up.

After a 1-2-3 inning for Neosho in the top of the fifth, Joni Hanke gave McDonald County a lead it would not relinquish with her solo homer.

After a scoreless sixth inning for the Lady Wildcats, the Lady Mustangs’ offense went to work.

First, Taylor Pearcy hit an RBI single to extend the lead to 4-2. There was an error on the next play by Neosho that allowed two runs to score. Sarah Rickman then hit an RBI single. Then, Ashton Harmon hit a two-run single and Kelly Reynolds followed that up with an RBI hit. Pratt finished the game when she hit an RBI single and then Neosho committed an error to allow the last run to score.

“(McDonald County) hit the ball well. They put the ball in play and a majority of their hits were base hits and we had some errors that hurt us,” Clark said. “When it comes to districts, everybody has to be ready to play every inning. It’s unfortunate how that inning went. And we just couldn’t get it stopped; we couldn’t cut it off.”

All said, McDonald County plated nine runs in the sixth inning.

“I think it was a combination of all the girls coming to the plate ready to hit and ready to run the bases hard,” McDonald County coach Tray Shaddox said of the big inning. “There was a lot of enthusiasm and I think it was just one of those innings where you just kind of build on the momentum.”

Pearcy pitched an effective game to lead the Lady Mustangs. She only finished with two strikeouts; but she allowed just five hits. The first inning was the only inning in which Pearcy allowed multiple hits.

“That’s just the kind of pitcher Taylor is,” Shaddox said. “She doesn’t strike a lot of people out, but she paints those corners.”

Courtni Smith finished 3-for-4 on the evening for McDonald County at the plate and Pratt ended up with three RBI.

Neosho’s hits came from Rathmann, Geller, Wilkey, Gilion and Deanna Bingham.

Neosho finishes the season with a 16-12 record.

“I feel these girls gave us everything they had all season long. And as a coach that’s all you want from you players is for them to give all out effort,” Clark said after the game. “We are going to miss our three seniors. They brought so much to this team in terms of leadership and knowledge of the game on the field. They will be missed, but we have a lot of returners coming back and we will need to work in the off season.”

Going into the district final today, Shaddox is confident in his team’s chances.

“We know we have to come ready to play,” he said. “We know that if we come in and play our game from start to finish, the wins and losses will take care of themselves.”