PLATO, Mo. — Hannah Breedlove is no stranger to the one-man rotation. At a young age, she seemed to be the only reliable arm within a country mile.
“I was like eight years old, and people would call me every weekend: ‘Hey, can you come pitch in our tournament?’ I was like: ‘Yeah!’,” said Breedlove. “Then when I got to high school, it was the same deal.”
For better or worse, Breedlove grew comfortable with a mound and the responsibility of a starting pitcher. By the time she became a freshman at Plato, the Lady Eagles had gone winless the previous fall and spring.
She was the only pitcher on a team that had become accustomed to the mercy rule. Behind Breedlove, Plato won four games that fall and three more the following spring.
That was just the beginning.
The Lady Eagles switched to spring softball the next season and picked up more girls that had previously been wrapped up in volleyball. Breedlove was still the lone member of the rotation as a sophomore.
They reached a district championship game for just the second time ever, falling to Mountain Grove.
“Then last year’s freshmen joined the team and Plato softball changed completely,” assistant coach Laura Steinbrink said.
Those first-year players included Kaitin Garrett, a travel softball veteran who’d grown up playing across the midwest. Like Breedlove, that experience earned her a starting role out of the gate. Garrett took full advantage, posting a 1.62 ERA and a team-best .576 batting average.
The numbers were enough to earn Garrett a surprise nod as the No. 1 starter after the regular season.
“Going into districts last year, I didn’t even think I’d be pitching, but they told me I was and I was just like, OKAY,” said Garrett.
The Lady Eagles took another step, knocking off Sparta and Mountain Grove by 10 runs apiece to capture the district championship.
“When you go from a team who’s never had a pitching staff, it’s definitely changed a lot,” said Breedlove.
Even with those accomplishments, it’s the one-run quarterfinal loss to West County that lingered.
“I went home and was like: this is not going to be next year. It made me have to come back and have a title or something the next year.”
It was once considered a foreign feeling around Plato’s program, but now final four expectations are bandied about daily.
Plato finished the regular season 17-3, earning the No. 2 seed in District 8. Garrett once again leads her team with, oddly enough, an identical .576 average with 30 RBI. She and Breedlove have combined for 122 strikeouts while giving up just nine earned runs all year.
The Lady Eagles know a showdown with top-ranked Strafford likely awaits in their effort to repeat as district champions, a challenge they embrace with open arms.
“We want win state,” said Garrett. “We’re willing to work hard to do it.”
If the senior-sophomore duo is at its peak, Plato could be as tough as any out in the state.
“When I’m having a bad game she’s there to pick me up and vice versa,” said Breedlove. “We know, no matter what, that we have the confidence to take care of it.”
The Lady Eagles open district play on Monday at Fair Grove High School against Fordland.
