By Scott Vanscoy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Webb City Cardinals continued their way in the state tournament with a 12-9 Sectional win over Ozark on Wednesday night. It was a wild and sloppy game which saw both teams making defensive miscues and leaving nine players on base.
Webb City got on the board first with three runs in the first inning. The key hit was a two-run homerun by sophomore Kaia Storm. Ozark answered back with three runs, led by junior Makenna Harmon’s two-run blast. With the score tied at 3, both pitchers settled down and pitched a clean second inning.
“It was pretty crazy,” said Storm. “I got a little nervous whenever they caught up and then tied the game. We never got down, we didn’t give up. We were up the whole game; we never doubted that we were going to win.”
Ozark got to Webb City starting pitcher Addie Darby in the third inning when they managed to hit five straight singles which would score four runs. Darby was replaced on the mound by junior Quincie Capron. Capron induced two ground balls to end the inning.
Webb City did not stop fighting and scratched a solo run in the fourth, making the score 7-4.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“She did a great job coming in and relieving,” said Webb City coach Shauna Friend. “She’s only pitched thirty innings so far this season, up to tonight. We are pretty pitcher heavy so we have spread out the pitching throughout the season. She’s done a great job of spotting her ball and putting it where she wants it and keeping the batters off balance; she did a great job tonight. She has great composure. She even got hit, took a hard shot to the forearm; she’s a tough girl and I could tell she was hurt but she stuck it out. She came through with a big hit, too. She’s a gamer.”
Capron allowed Ozark just two runs the rest of the game, even though the Tigers had several opportunities to score. Capron pitched around five errors, allowing only two runs.
Webb City fought their way back to take the lead in the sixth inning with an Ozark error, a walked batter and RBIs by Darby, Storm and Haidyn Berry, making the score 11-7 in favor of the Cardinals. In the bottom of the sixth, Ozark loaded the bases with one out. The Tigers were unable to get the big hit, scoring just one run and leaving the bases loaded. Going into the final frame, the score was 11-8.
In the top of the seventh, Webb City pinch hitter Taylor Harris, sophomore, reached base on an error. With one out, bases loaded and Storm at the plate, the Cardinals threatened to blow the game open. Storm hit a line drive but Ozark third baseman Madison Reese made a great play, robbing Storm.
With momentum on their side, the Tigers’ leadoff hitter Lily Sullivan reached base on a Webb City error but Capron maintained her composure. She pitched around the error even though the runner came around to score. Capron induced the Cardinals into three ground balls to end the game.
“We competed tonight, Webb City competed tonight,” said Ozark coach Jimmy Nimmo. “A good team beat a good team; they just had a couple more hits than we had. That’s how it is. Webb City is a great team and I expect them to do great things for the rest of the season. I can see them going all the way. I’m very proud of how we competed tonight.”
The winning pitcher for Webb City was Capron. She allowed no earned runs in her three-plus innings of work.
“Our dugout is what kept us in the game,” said Capron. “Coming in the game I had a lot of support from my teammates, they helped me through everything. I knew that if everybody stayed calm throughout the whole game, nothing could bring us down.”
Friend, in her third year of coaching at Webb City, was proud of her girls’ performance.
“We had some underclassmen step up tonight for us,” said Friend. “Storm stepped up offensively for us and Capron stepped in on the mound. We had some timely hits and that’s what it is going to take; that’s what it takes to score runs and win ballgames. That three run homerun at the beginning of the game was a big boost. That was a huge momentum boost for us but Ozark did a great job of coming back and answering with three. We don’t quit, though, we don’t give up. I can’t be more pleased with the entire team; it was definitely a team effort.”
Webb City 12, Ozark 9
Lebanon 300 125 1 — 12
Ozark 304 001 1 — 9
