By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Forsyth Lady Panthers claimed the Class 2, District 4 softball championship Thursday night with a 7-0 win over the Houston Lady Tigers.
Forsyth head coach Jeff Walls led the top seeded Lady Panthers in his first year at the helm. “I was very blessed to have inherited the team that we inherited,” he said. “We have several holdovers from our district title two years ago, so technically this is a back-to-back. I couldn’t be prouder of the girls and what they accomplished.”
Katrina Drake got the ball rolling for Forsyth in the bottom of the third with a hard hit to left field, turned into a single thanks to an impressive stop by Houston third baseman Mali Brookshire. Emmalea Cook hit a ground ball to move the runner, then Drake stole third. Another well-timed play by Brookshire almost stopped the Lady Panthers’ momentum, but a Rachel Essary single earned her an RBI and Forsyth was on the board.
Emmy Blevins made it to second on an error at first base in the bottom of the fourth, and Kloe Hendrickson’s sacrifice advanced Blevins to third. Brookshire came up with another big stop for Houston, but not before Blevins added another run to the board, 2-0.
Forsyth advanced their lead to 5-0 in the fifth thanks to the combined work of Oletha Rich, Rachel Essary, Kyleigh Kincaid, and Emmy Blevins.
The Lady Tigers picked up momentum in the sixth, but Cook’s diving play at third and a catch by Rachel Essary closed the inning.
Forsyth loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and scored their final two runs with Cook and Drake with one hit and four walks.
Kincaid was the only Forsyth player with multiple hits; the Lady Panthers had six total hits but capitalized on five Houston errors for scoring. Rachel Essary had a dominant game on the mound with five strikeouts and zero walks, giving up only four hits.
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“They are one of the better teams we’ve seen this year,” said Walls of the Lady Tigers. “They are a very solid ball club. They made plays– their third baseman made several awesome plays today– so when we got word we were coming over here we didn’t know what to expect, but we took the mentality of playing a hard seven and it’s worked out well.”
Forsyth’s three seniors came up clutch today. “Rachel (Essary) was on the mound and threw an absolute gem,” said Walls. “She’s recovered from her ACL injury and in these past few weeks she’s gotten back to the Rachel of old. Our centerfielder Kyleigh Kincaid has been our stalworth in centerfield, batting that five hold. And first baseman Trina Drake leads off for us and leads our team in batting average and runs. She’s the steady presence we’ve needed in a young lineup.”
Other top contributors include Oletha Rich, catcher and three-hole hitter. “I can’t say enough good things about her,” said Walls. “She’s probably our most seasoned softball player; she plays a lot of softball and so these situations are never too big her.” Shortstop Emmalea Cook is “diving all over the place, and you saw it today,” he said, also crediting the work of third baseman Paige Rowton. “Kloe Hendrickson, our right fielder, learned that position and is awesome.”
Houston Head Coach Jim Moore said his team is obviously disappointed as they felt they had a good chance today. “And we did,” he added. “You’ve got to give credit to Forsyth for making a lot of plays and we weren’t very good at the plate today. We didn’t put ourselves in scoring position enough. You’ve got to give credit to their pitcher for that, she kept us off balance a bit. Defensively, we were solid for the first half of the game, then they broke through with a couple of big hits and there were a couple of big plays that we usually make that we didn’t.”
“Hats off to Forsyth, they have a really solid team,” said Moore. “We lose really good seniors, but aside from that we are young and we will be back.”
Those seniors are Jaden Stell and Riley Scheets. Stells is a first year centerfielder who moved from shortstop. “We needed some speed in the outfield as well as someone who could cover ground and catch balls,” said Moore. “She embraced a new position and I believe she’s one of the best centerfielders in the area. She did a really good job for us there.” Riley Scheets is a first baseman. “She’s a taller kid and can stretch out and catch a lot of balls. We feel comfortable if we can get it in the area, she can snag it for us.”
“Both of them are going to be missed and tough to replace,” said Moore. “They’ve meant a lot to our program this year.”
“We knew we had a chance to be pretty solid, but I think we improved even more than we thought we might,” said Coach Moore of this season. “We started winning games and gaining confidence. Our core is sophomores and with missing out on their freshman year due to COVID, it was like starting with freshmen, but they really grew and improved. They made unbelievable plays at the plate and in the field. They bought into the weight room in the off-season. We hit for power this year with 25-26 home runs as a team. I’m so proud of them. We’re hurting right now, but our future is so bright.”
The Lady Tigers end their season with a 16-4 record.
Forsyth’s record now stands at 21-5, with three of those losses to ranked teams. They will begin state tournament play against Potosi May 13.
