By Matt Turer — @MattTurer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Monett coach Ty Goetz said his team wasn’t happy just being at state.
They weren’t happy with a 20-win season, and they weren’t satisfied after the 21st win propelled them to the Class 3 championship game. It’s why every member of this Cubs roster has been writing the number 22 on their wrists since sectional play: as a reminder of not only where they are, but where they needed to be—22 wins—to be on top.
But before this season began, Goetz never imagined the Cubs could be in position to head back to Monett with the program’s first state softball championship.
“We knew we’d be good going into the season but no one really expected a state championship,” Goetz said. “But that just shows you the type of girls I get to coach. I’m fully blessed.”
It was worth not knowing.
The Cubs defeated Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) 4-1 in the MSHSAA Class 3 softball championship on Saturday, capitalizing on five errors to score a run in each the first and third innings and two runs in the fifth, and riding a five-hit complete game by Josie Allcock.
Monett (22-10) became the first team in MSHSAA history to win a softball title with double-digit losses, and it did so in its first-ever appearance in the title game. Notre Dame (27-4) was looking for its first title since 2009.
“That’s the fun part I love about coaching a team sport. Everybody has to have a hand in it, and we did,” Goetz said on winning a championship with 10 losses. “Even little things. Our dugout has done a good job for us all year keeping us up. Defensively we’ve been good at every position and then up and down the lineup we’ve been getting it done.”
The Cubs had the least amount of errors (30) of any Class 3 team at state and committed just a single error over the two-day tournament.
“Defense has won it all year,” Goetz said. “Getting timely hits. Make all the plays behind Josie. She does such a good jump of letting her defense work.”
Allcock allowed just a single run in the semifinals and finals after shutting out Smithville 2-0 on Friday and allowing a run in the second inning on Saturday. She ended the game with nine consecutive outs and struck out one.
Coming into Saturday, Notre Dame had only been held to one run once all season. And it was a game the Bulldogs won.
Kaesha George caught the game’s final out: a Riley Burger liner into center. Monett players mobbed Allcock and then each other on the mound, alternating laughs, smiles and tears before hoisting the championship trophy in front of their fans.
“It feels so good. I love this team so much,” Katie Kurima said. “I try to do everything for this team and I can always count on them to do their job.”
“It means everything,” Allcock said. “It’s a great way to end the year.”
Allcock helped her own cause by driving in the game’s first run with a sacrifice fly to right that scored Katie Kurima with one out in the bottom of the first. Kurima had reached on an error and promptly stole second, advancing to third on a Maddi Coones single.
“[Driving in Kurima] definitely relaxed me,” Allcock said. “It made me excited we already scored and I knew we were going to get more.”
The Bulldogs responded quickly. Kristen Barwick walked and Gracie Friga singled to leadoff the second and were pushed to second and third on an Abagail Estes sacrifice. Next, Conner Overfield grounded to third, scoring Barwick on a close play at home that injured Monett catcher Victoria Gutierrez.
Gutierrez was removed from the game for Amberlyn Schmidly with a thumb injury. With runners on second and third with two outs, Allcock got Macy Landeros to fly out to right, ending the rally.
Monett tallied a second run in the third with another rally sparked by Kurima reaching on an error and stealing second. Coones then popped out to short, followed by a McCallister single that advanced Kurima to third. Allcock drove in Kurima on a groundout to the catcher for her second RBI.
Gutierrez returned to the game with a runner on first and no outs in the fifth inning with Monett up 2-1 to a huge ovation.
“It got everybody back up and hyped up,” Allcock said. It must have, because Allcock and Monett’s defense didn’t allow another Notre Dame batter to reach base the rest of the game.
Katie Schmidt walked, George reached on an error and Kurima singled to open Monett’s fifth. With the bases loaded and no outs, Coones hit what appeared to be a simple fly ball to right that was dropped in winds that reached 20 miles per hour, scoring Schmidt and George and capping the scoring at the 4-1 final.
“I wish there was a way to describe this feeling,” Goetz said. “You can’t describe it. [People] who have been fortunate enough to win a state championship will try to explain it, but until you’ve been here, there’s no explaining what type of feeling you get.”
UP NEXT
The celebration of Monett’s first softball championship and second team championship in the past 365 days—after the football program won its first title since 1977 back in Nov. 2016—gets underway for the Cubs. Three seniors have played their last game of high school softball: Gutierrez, Allcock, Kurima.
SCORING
ND |0|1|0|0|0|0|0| — |1|5|5|
MHS |1|0|1|0|2|0|X| — |4|4|0|
Cubs – Bottom 1st
Josie Allcock flied out to right, Katie Kurima scored. — MHS 1, ND 0
Bulldogs – Top 2nd
Conner Overfield singled to third, Kristen Barwick scored. — ND 1, MHS 1
Cubs – Bottom 3rd
Josie Allcock grounded out to the catcher, Katie Kurima scored. — MHS 2, ND 0
Cubs – Bottom 5th
Maddi Coones reached on an E9, Katie Schmidt and Kaesha George scored. — MHS 4, ND 0
