Parker beat Ozark twice in the regular season. On Saturday, she also did damage at the plate by going 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs.
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“We’ve scored two runs in 21 innings off her,” said Ozark coach Yancey Little. “She’s a fantastic pitcher, obviously the best we’ve seen.”
Parker struck out 18 hitters the first time she faced Ozark. The second time around, she had 13 strikeouts. In the title game, she struck out 13 again and gave up five hits and no walks.
Little said that facing a pitcher like Parker meant his players needed to be more aggressive at the plate. If the count got to two strikes, a strikeout would be likely.
Parker’s RBI single in the third gave Truman its first run of the game. The Lady Patriots scored on a wild pitch from Ozark hurler Abbie Clanton in the fourth.
Truman added to its lead in the fifth, getting an RBI single from Parker and an RBI double from Victoria Zorich. Truman leadoff hitter Maya Coen reached base four times and had three hits, two runs and an RBI.
Ozark got its first hit of the game when No. 9 hitter Ashley O’Brien blooped a single up the middle. Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, Ozark had a runner on second with one out but Parker forced a popout and groundout to end the threat.
The Lady Tigers started the seventh with two singles, but Parker struck out three in a row and the Lady Patriots celebrated a championship on the field.
Clanton went five innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits, three walks and five strikeouts.
Little praised his players for a memorable 2012 season.
“They’ve done something nobody’s done since 1986, when softball started at Ozark,” Little said. “It’s something they have to be proud of and something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
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