By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The theme this season for Diamond’s softball team was four – as in a fourth-place finish for the Wildcats in last year’s Class 2 tournament.
“We didn’t want to be satisfied with fourth place last year and we have almost the whole team back,” head coach Kelsey Parrish said. “That’s our goal, to be better than four.”
Diamond got one step closer to that goal on Tuesday evening as the top seed Wildcats erupted for nine runs in the first two innings en route to an impressive 15-5 win over sixth seed Pierce City in five innings for the Class 2 District 6 championship at Mt. Vernon. They’ll play either Sparta or Clever in the quarterfinals on May 17.
In the third meeting between the schools this year – Diamond won the first two by a combined 16 runs – the Wildcats wasted little time in staking their claim to the title.
Diamond (26-3) sent nine hitters to the plate in the bottom of the first, recorded six hits and scored six runs. Lauren Turner, Grace Frazier and Caitlyn Suhrie led off with three-straight hits to make it 2-0, two runs scored on wild pitches and Kabrie Parmley singled in two more.
Diamond’s aggressive base running accounted for two more runs in the second, when Turner and Frazier both scored on one wild pitch. It was 9-0 after Suhrie, who doubled, scored on an infield error.
“I felt like we just came out and were aggressive all around, at the plate, on the bases,” Parrish said. “I’m really proud of them.”
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“Our goal this year was to be stronger on the base paths and be smarter,” she said. “I think they definitely fulfilled that goal.”
Pierce City, meanwhile, didn’t go quietly. The Eagles (17-10) became just the third team this season to score five runs against the Wildcats, but it was too little, too late.
Pierce City scored two in the third on a home run to left field by Mollie Beeson, but Diamond answered with two more in the third to make it 11-2. Madison Bentley doubled in one run and the second scored on a single by Lexy Bridges.
Then the Eagles countered with three in the fourth on a double by Claudia Crowell, a single by Trinity Witt and a sacrifice fly by Riley Gripka. That ended the threat of Diamond winning by the run rule – for a little while.
Diamond answered with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to extend its lead to 10. The outburst included a double by Turner, a run scoring on a passed ball and then Suhrie capped it off with a two-run home run that bounced off the top of the left field fence.
“Pierce City is like the underdog coming up but all along I’ve said this could be anybody’s district,” Parrish said. “We had a really tough district so just winning every inning was our goal tonight.”
“I told them I was really happy about the way we responded,” Pierce City coach Bobby Stackhouse said. “Earlier in the year we probably aren’t able to do that but I was proud. Against the best pitcher we’ve seen all year, easily, to come back out and put up five runs. And Diamond’s a really good team and any time it felt like momentum might slide a little bit into our dugout they did a good job of getting it back into their dugout. All the credit in the world to them for that.”
Eight different Wildcats had hits in the game and four of them had multi-hit days, led by Suhrie’s 4-for-4 performance with four runs scored and three driven in. Turner was 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI, and Frazier and Bentley each went 2-for-3.
Bentley earned the win and struck out five in her five innings of work.
“Madison Bentley did an amazing job on the mound,” Parrish said. “Even when they were hitting her she stayed composed and did a great job. Caitlyn Suhrie went 4-for-4 and I think she scored every time. She’s really smart on the bases. She’s had a great district tournament.”
Mollie Beeson was 3-for-3 for Pierce City with a run and two driven in. Gripka and Crowell each went 2-for-3 with a double apiece.
“I’m happy with the finish,” Stackhouse said. “Every coach wants to be playing their best softball at the end of the year come districts. I felt like we did that. We made a nice little run to the championship game and hang our hats on the fact we lost to a really good team.”
