By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD, MO – Cassville softball’s magical postseason run came up a bit short in Friday’s Class 3 semifinal.
After reaching the final four for the first time in school history, the Wildcats fell to Doniphan 13-3.
A crucial, eight-run inning from the Donettes in the top of the fifth proved to be Cassville’s undoing.
The Wildcats’ bats finally answered in the bottom half of the inning with three runs; however, the hole proved to be a bit too deep at that point for the team and head coach Jordan Savage.
“It’s a disappointing game,” Savage said. “Everything that we’ve worked for, everything to get to this point – we can’t wash it away now by one bad game. It’s, more or less, flush and move on. Look forward to the third-place game, go get ready for that and we can look back on everything at the end of the day.”
Cassville’s Aubrey Stoufer threw 4.1 innings and was credited with the loss. The senior right-hander recorded six hits, one walk and four strikeouts. She was relieved in the fifth inning by sophomore Lili Naugle, who posted six hits, one walk and five strikeouts.
Doniphan struck early in the first inning, when Bella Monaghan drove in Makenna Kirby on a sacrifice fly to right field.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Stoufer took a moment to gather herself in the circle, and then went right back to work, recording three spotless 1-2-3 innings in a row.
“That’s what she does every single time, whether it’s been a tournament game, a district game or whatever,” Savage said. “If she makes one bad pitch, she’s not going to let it affect her any more. She’s pretty good about not letting it go throughout the game. She’s more of a brick wall, so anything bad that hits her kind of bounces right off, and she just keeps moving forward.”
In the fifth inning, that resilience was put to the ultimate test, as Doniphan racked up eight runs on seven hits with three errors.
Down but not out, Cassville responded in the bottom half of the inning.
A Madison Yockey single scored Torri Blankenship to get the Wildcats on the scoreboard.
One batter later, Cassville plated two more on Brianna Still’s single, but that would be the final runs of the game for the Wildcats.
Doniphan MacKay Jackson was credited with the victory. The sophomore right-hander threw 4.1 innings, scattering eight hits, two walks and four strikeouts in the process.
Following the game, Stoufer remained upbeat and positive with the potential to end the season on a winning note looming ahead.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE GAME
“We had lots of confidence going into this game,” Stoufer said. “We worked so hard for this, and this is all we wanted. I know it didn’t end how we wanted it to, but we still have another game, and we’re excited to play for third place.”
Savaged echoed Stoufer’s thoughts, and was confident in his team’s ability to shake off the loss and prepare for the task at hand, a 5:15 pm third-place game against Macon (23-14).
“I really don’t have to do a whole lot,” Savage said. “They’re going to be disappointed for about an hour, then they’ll move forward for the next game, and that’s something they’ve done all year long, whether it’s been struggling in the first game of a tournament or anything like that – they’ve done a pretty good job staying in focus.”
Class 3 Semifinal: Doniphan – 13, Cassville – 3
Doniphan 1 0 0 0 8 1 3 | 13 12 0
Cassville 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 | 3 10 6
