By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
As she walked to the plate in crunch time of a tie game, Willard slugger Alyson Miller doubted she’d see a hittable pitch.
“I didn’t think they were going to pitch to me,” Miller said. “The last game, they hadn’t pitched to me. This game, I didn’t know if they would. I was just up there and thought, ‘If I see a pitch, I’m going for it.’”
When she saw it, Miller was ready.
“That pitch was right there and I just knew, ‘This is the one,’” Miller said.
One big swing later, Miller drilled a ball over the left field fence for the go-ahead run in Monday’s Class 5 District 5 Tournament championship game at Republic High School. Willard would go on to beat Nixa 2-1 for its first district title in 10 years.
“They’re just tough. They’re resilient and hungry. They’re seniors who want to win and never have before. And finally, they’re here,” Willard coach AshLeigh Williams said of her team.
Appropriately, it was Miller making the game’s decisive hit. She’s Willard’s all-time home run queen, with 41 now for her career and 16 on the season.
“She’s been in those big moments for us since she was a freshman,” said Williams, recalling a homer Miller hit her freshman year that helped Willard win a district semifinal game. “She comes through all the time. I expected nothing less of her in that position. She got the pitch she wanted and didn’t miss. Couldn’t be more proud of her.”
The Lady Tigers (25-11 overall) have posted three straight 20-win seasons and now have the program’s first district title since 2013.
“It’s amazing, we’ve all worked so hard,” said Willard senior and pitcher Hannah Burks. “At our field, we have goals written on the bulletin board in our dugout. This is something we’ve worked toward for a very long time. It feels really good to finally be able to do it – and with this group of girls, it’s really cool.”
Burks was superb in the circle, going the distance and allowing just five hits while striking out eight and issuing no walks.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Burks also pitched Willard to a 3-0 win over Nixa in the regular season meeting between the Central Ozark Conference schools.
“She definitely did not miss today,” Williams said. “(Nixa) did a good job of putting balls in play, and our defense played well behind (Burks) by making plays and holding (Nixa) to one run.”
Up next: Defending Class 5 state champion Blue Springs South in the quarterfinal round. Willard will host Blue Springs South on Saturday, Oct. 21, with the start time to be determined.
The Jaguars (25-2 overall) beat Rock Bridge 13-3 to win the District 6 championship. Since 2016, Blue Springs South has made six final four appearances and won three state championships.
Competing at the Class 5 level was a new challenge for Willard this fall. The Lady Tigers, who were in Class 4 last season, joined a District 5 field that saw six of the eight schools finish with 18 or more wins this season.
“At the beginning of the year, (winning districts) was one of our goals. Moving from Class 4 to Class 5, that goal got a little more difficult,” Williams said. “But we still stuck with it. We knew this would be a tough district to get through.”
Emerging as district champs against the likes of Nixa, Ozark, Republic and Kickapoo makes it even sweeter, according to the players.
“It does. Of course,” said Willard senior Reece Anderson. “Playing that big competition, it’s so much more rewarding. I’m proud of everybody.”
Willard capitalized on a pair of Nixa errors in the fourth to take a 1-0 lead against Lady Eagles starter Bri Chilton, who struck out four and allowed just three hits.
Nixa tied the game in the top of the sixth on Jordan Phillips’ RBI groundout.
The Lady Eagles were poised to score the game’s first run in the top of the fourth, when they had runners on first and second with no outs.
The left side of Willard’s infield, Miller at third base and Anderson at shortstop, came up with a big force out to stymie the rally.
“Alyson went over for it, missed it, she made it back to third,” Anderson said. “I was able to get it and toss it over to her just in time. We got the lead runner.
“We’ve worked on plays like that before. I had full faith that she would be there.”
Nixa (22-11 overall) reached the 20-win mark for the third straight season. The Lady Eagles, who were also district runner-up last year, graduate a four-player senior class.
