Big fourth inning sends Webb City past Nixa

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By Greg Morse (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

The conference matchup between Webb City and Nixa started off as a strong pitcher’s duel between Nixa senior Morgan Jones and Webb City sophomore Haidyn Berry. Both players struck out three and allowed three hits through the first three innings before Webb City exploded for four runs in the fourth inning on the way to a 4-0 win.

Nixa sophomore Emma Vincent knocked a double in the third inning. Kat Mitchell came up next with another hit giving the Lady Eagles two runners on with just one out. Berry rose to the challenge by striking out the final two batters of the inning to end the threat.

“Haidyn had an excellent game tonight. She…really (kept) them off-balance,” said head Coach Shauna Friend.

Webb City junior Kaia Storm kicked off a big fourth inning for the Cardinals by getting a base hit. This was followed by another base hit from junior Karson Culver, moving Storm to second. A sacrifice bunt by Haidyn Berry put the runners on second and third. The next batter up, junior Stacy Tyndall got another single, bringing Storm and Culver home for two RBIs.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

“I was supposed to be a squeeze, but I saw the runners were coming up really quick, so I just decided to hit the ball. I pretended like I was bunting and them came back and hit over the pitcher,” said Tyndall.

The hits kept coming as junior Darcy Darnell got a base hit, followed by a single from senior Quincie Capron. With two outs, junior Keira Jackson knocked in Darnell, and senior Renae Gillmore brought Capron home by each getting their own base hits to bring the Webb City advantage to 4-0.

“It took us a little while to get going, but we had a good fourth inning, had good execution that helped us get some runs in. Sometimes that’s all it takes, you just have to manufacture some runs,” said Friend.

Berry would allow just three Nixa batters to reach over the final three innings to secure the shutout.

“I saw better communication and good composure from our team, especially when they hit players on base,” said Friend, “Just like everyone else I want us to keep improving on our batting.”

Webb City improved to 13-3 with the crucial conference win and will next head to Neosho on Sept. 25. Nixa will return home with an 8-5 record to face Republic also on Sept. 25.

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