Pleasant Hope coach Jim Flora went to the mound to settle his team down.
“I wasn’t very happy because I felt like those are plays we need to make. We were playing on our heels, I told the girls to attack the ball and be aggressive because we’re not going to beat Ozark making those kinds of plays,” said Flora.
Pleasant Hope would survive the first inning unscathed and senior pitcher Sarah Siegismund would take over from there.
“We went into the game a little nervous, because it was Ozark, and they are a really big school. They are also a good hitting team. Once coach came out and talked to us, we got our act together,” said Siegismund.
“Sarah did an outstanding job for us tonight. She got a little bit tight in that last inning but that’s why we play these games,” said Flora. “She was unbelievable, mixing up her pitches, hitting her spots, keeping them off balance. Ozark is a team that can really hit the ball, and for Sarah to come in here and hold them scoreless for six inning is outstanding!”
Pleasant Hope would get on the board first with back to back doubles by Siegismund and Lindsey Vantassel in the second inning to lead 1-0. In the fourth inning sophomore Haley Hillenburg crushed a mammoth home run to put Pleasant Hope up 4-0. The bottom of the order for the Lady Pirates was 7-for-15, with three doubles, a home run and five RBI’s.
“We hit the ball well tonight, especially at the bottom of our order, which has been a strength for us this year, “said Flora, “it’s something that we didn’t do so well last year.”
Lady Pirates’ shortstop Kari Hillenburg said, “This is a huge win for us, and hopefully will give us momentum going into Districts next week. Our goal is to win state, not just get there, but to win it. That’s why we play the bigger schools; it will only help us reach our goal.”
Pleasant Hope 010 301 2-7
Ozark 000 000 3-3
Pleasant Hope 7 runs 13 hits 3 errors
Ozark 3 runs 6 hits 1 error
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