By Nolan Epstein (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
For the fourth time in six years, the Pleasant Hope Lady Pirates are among the final eight teams remaining in the Class 2 state softball tournament.
Feeding off timely hitting and an extraordinary pitching performance from senior Jenna Halbrook, Pleasant Hope (18-10) cruised to a 7-1 home win in sectional play on Thursday over Cuba (14-10) to punch its ticket to the state quarterfinals – a round it has failed to reach just twice, including a year ago, over the past six seasons.
“It seems like we take a year off every so often,” said Lady Pirates head coach Kevin McVey after the victory. “We’ll go a year, take a year off and then have a chance to go back.”
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The Lady Pirates, who last claimed a state title in 2012 and came up one game short in 2014, were paced by their 1-2-3 hitters in the lineup on Thursday.
The top of Pleasant Hope’s order, consisting of Nichole Mosley, Katelyn Stewart and Abby Henson, collected nine of the Lady Pirates’ twelve hits and delivered all but one of their runs.
“The top of our lineup, you can count on them a lot of times to get a hit, get a bunt down or whatever it takes,” McVey said. “We really like to have the whole lineup clicking, but it just doesn’t always happen that way.”
Pleasant Hope got going early with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first off Cuba starting pitcher Kylee McDonald, while tacking on one in the second, two in the fourth and two more in the sixth to give its lights-out starter Jenna Halbrook more than enough to work with.
“Knowing that we can hit and that we can score runs and produce on the offensive side, it takes a lot of stress off as a pitcher,” Halbrook said.
Halbrook, who came into the game sporting a 1.11 ERA in 44 innings pitched, was her usual dominant self – striking out 14 batters and allowing just four hits over seven innings.
The only run of the game she allowed came in the top of the fifth in the form of a two-out RBI triple to McDonald.
“My mindset was just to go out there and win every pitch,” said Halbrook. “Win the pitch and win the game, you know.”
The splendid senior yielded only two free passes in the win – adding to an already astounding strikeout-to-walk ratio that now stands at 81-to-8 on the year.
“Sometimes, she thinks every pitch should be a strike,” McVey said of his pitcher, chuckling. “Her strikeout-to-walk ratio is outstanding. Most of the time she can put [the ball] exactly where she wants it.”
With the win, Pleasant Hope advances to face Blair Oaks (20-8) on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Pirates will again have the advantage of playing in front of their home fans in hopes of getting back to the Final Four.
“It’s been a fun season and I don’t want it to end,” said Henson, who collected three hits. “I hope we go all the way. It’d be awesome.”
