By Matt Turer – mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
McDonald County used a powerful lineup and strong big-game pitching last season to take home a long-awaited district championship, beating softball powers Webb City and Republic to do so. The Mustangs lost five seniors from that district championship team, but this will again be one of the teams to watch in southwest Missouri and in the Big 8.
“As always, we have high expectations for our program and the players within it,” head coach Skyler Rawlins said. “We lost five seniors, but the good thing is our returning players know what it takes to compete and be successful at that level, and that’s what we’ve preached all summer.”
The face of this program right now is junior catcher Kylie Helm. Helm finished 2016 with a .656 average and an area-high 1.759 OPS while striking out just once in 97 plate appearances. She ripped 13 doubles, four triples and six home runs. On top of that, Helm was one of the top clutch hitters in the area, going 27-44 (.614) with runners in scoring position.
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“She had a great summer and leads the team from behind the plate and can really shut the running game down,” Rawlins said. “She has a chance to be one of the biggest offensive threats in the state.”
Senior Cloee Helm was a first-team all-conference outfielder last season and will be another force for the Mustangs. Cloee hit .465 last year behind 40 hits and stole 20 bases.
“[Cloee] roams the outfield and is the leader on and off the field,” Rawlins said.
McDonald County will need to replace Paige Jones in the circle, who pitched a shutout in the team’s 1-0 district championship win over Republic, but Rawlins is confident he has the staff to move forward in Kaylee Cornell, Chloe Colvin and Lex Hopkins.
“They all give us a chance to win ballgames,” Rawlins said of his pitching trio.
Other graduated names that will need to be replaced are all-conference honorable-mention selections Hanna Schmit and Kali McClain.
“We have a great core group of returning starters that worked hard all summer and are wanting to build onto the tradition of Mustang softball,” Rawlins said. “As a staff, we are really excited to see how this team evolves and who steps up into starting roles.”
The Mustangs finished last season 19-6. They fell, 5-2, to Ozark in the Class 4 sectionals.
McDonald County is 138-49 since the 2009 season (.738 win percentage).
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