By Matt Turer — @MattTurer
Springfield, Mo. — It’s no fun being the odd one out. For years, Kickapoo softball has felt it was just that in a school whose athletic programs are no stranger to media attention.
Now, after beating Camdenton 3-2 on Wednesday, the Chiefs are 9-0. And the odd one out seems to be whoever is next on their schedule.
“Our whole goal this season was to get recognition for Kickapoo softball,” senior pitcher Emily Admire said. “So when we started off 5-0 and then made it to 8-0, we kind of just wanted to keep going to show people what we’re made of.”
The Chiefs used a two-run fourth and a Chloe Bowen RBI single in the fifth to keep their record unblemished and notch a key Ozark Conference win over the visiting Lakers (8-3). But for all the talk of records, Kickapoo head coach Jason Howser just wants his girls to play softball.
“We’ve never talked about records [in my time as head coach],” Howser said. “That’s playing the game for what I consider a result at the end. You play to pitch. And if you win more pitches than the other team, the outcome is going to take care of itself.
“That means being gritty with two strikes. Making plays on defense. Making pitches, which Emily did all day. We’ve never spoken about record, and we won’t.”
Camdenton hit Admire hard in the first inning. The first four Lakers reached base, prompting a Howser mound visit with the entire team. Two runs crossed and Camdenton led 2-0 after the first, but Admire retired eight straight and allowed just four hits over the final six innings after that meeting.
“They’re a very good team, and our girls knew that coming in,” Howser said. “We looked a little timid. I wanted to go out there and talk to them about that and play our game. Not a game against another team. We play softball. And we needed to do a better job of playing softball.”
Admire lowered her season ERA to 1.40 behind eight strikeouts and those two early runs.
“After the first inning we realized we needed to kick our butts in gear,” she said. “Once we realized we needed to focus, we started picking our energy up in the dugout and I think it kind of rattled their pitched a little bit, and I think that’s what helped us the most.”
Howser credited Camdenton for setting the tone early, but outside of a sixth-inning threat, the Lakers couldn’t get much going off Admire and the Kickapoo defense.
Camdenton doubled twice and singled in the sixth when trailing 3-2, but a baserunning blunder cost them a chance to tie.
“We’ve got a young team, and while we have a lot of confidence, we’ve been a little bit up and down. We’re trying to build towards district,” Lakers head coach Rick Calbert said.
The Lakers played Wednesday without starting third baseman and cleanup hitter Emma Uthe, who was out with an illness.
“When you have a starter out, sometimes it doesn’t work out quite what you wanted,” Calbert said. “It is what it is, we came up a run short.”
Sophomore Haile Farris struck out five over six strong innings for the Lakers.
“She’s very good,” Howser said. “Her stuff early on was very, very good. Sometimes you’ve got to credit the other team, and I credit her the first three innings. What I credit our team for is we started adjusting to how she was attacking us.”
An RBI double by Kenzie Walker and a two-out RBI single from Carlee Wolfe tied the game 2-2 in the fourth inning. A Bowen single to lead off the fourth broke up what was a Farris no-hitter.
Fayth Rakes reached base in all three plate appearances for Camdenton.
The Lakers left six runners in scoring position to Kickapoo’s four.
“With two outs, they made all the plays they needed to make defensively,” Calbert said of Kickapoo’s defense.
FINAL: Kickapoo 3, Camdenton 2
Lakers 2|0|0|0|0|0|0 — |2|7|1|
Chiefs 0|0|0|2|1|0|X| — |3|6|0|
