By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After a big inning from Miller put the Jasper softball team down two runs, there might have been some nerves at play in the Eagles dugout. Not for long.
Jasper responded with nine runs over two innings – including two big home runs – and went on to win 11-4 on Wednesday afternoon in a Class 1 quarterfinal hosted by the Cardinals.
“It feels amazing,” said junior Taylor Hinds. “It’s really exciting to come back again. I’m really just proud of our whole team for putting in the effort. We never got low, we never got high, we just stayed level. I’m just really proud of us.”
“I will say I was a little bit nervous,” Hinds said, “but I know we’ve been in this place before. I know what we’re capable of so we’ve just got to keep pushing and know that we can do it and it’s not the end of the world. Like our coach always says, if they’re up by two it’s only two, you can do it.”
Jasper, 22-12, returns to the semifinal round for the second season in a row. The Eagles finished as the Class 1 runner up last spring – also after defeating Miller in the quarterfinal round. Jasper will take on Concordia (26-1) at 11 a.m. Monday in Springfield, with Valle Catholic (18-3) and Ellington (16-6) meeting in the other semifinal.
On Wednesday, the Eagles jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Miller scored four runs in the fourth, but the deficit didn’t last long.
Jasper, which played as the home team on the scoreboard, answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth and six more in the fifth to put the game away.
Addison Atnip led off the fourth with a walk and then Livia Dumm followed with a home run to center to tie the game. Gabriella Haddock was later hit by a pitch and then scored on a single from Shiloh Storm to make it 5-4.
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Mercadez Scott (fielder’s choice), Atnip (walk) and Dumm (single) loaded the bases in the fifth, and Emersyn Bass drew a walk to force in one run. Then Haddock singled up the middle to score two more, and Hinds followed with the exclamation point: a three run homer to left that made it 11-4.
“It was a really good feeling,” Hinds said. “It was also an honor at the same time. It made me really proud I was able to get us up there and get more runs for the team.”
The offense was more than enough for Jasper pitcher Grace Osborne, who struck out eight and didn’t walk anyone in her seven innings. Miller put runners in scoring position in each of the first two innings and batted eight in the big fourth inning, but Osborne allowed just one baserunner in the final three frames.
Dumm was 4-for-5 in the game with three runs and two RBI, Hinds was 2-for-4 with one run and five driven in, and freshman Alivea Roberts also collected two hits. Atnip drew three walks and scored twice, and Haddock scored three runs while driving in two.
“It feels so exciting,” Roberts said. “I’m a freshman so it’s exciting getting to start and being around these girls. That was a good game.
“I’m just excited to get to move on and see how far we can go,” she said.
Miller’s Hailey Mart, Rachel Nunez, Addison Stockton and Ashlynn Helton each recorded two hits in the game. Mart, Stockton, Helton and Lillie Ricketts each scored a run and Haylie Schnake, Nunez, Marissa Laxton and Helton each drove in a run.
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO OF THE GAME
“I wish we would have hit a little bit better,” Miller coach Audrey LaSalle said. “It’s always rough when you leave runners on base, that’s always kind of a bad sign. Then they just really came out and they were hitting their best and it was really tough for us to contain it. We had a couple errors that we don’t normally have, we had a few things not go our way but overall they played better than us today. There’s not a lot you can do about that.”
The Cardinals finished with a 20-6 record.
