By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD – It’s not that Camdenton’s softball players forgot what it was like to win a district title.
None of them had ever experienced it – until Friday afternoon, that is.
The top-seeded Lakers secured their first district title since 2018 with an 8-2 victory over second-seeded Branson in the Class 4 District 6 championship game at Glendale High School.
It marked a return to glory for Camdenton, which had won three straight district championships between 2016 and 2018 but struggled to replicate that success over the past three seasons.
The Lakers had won a total of 28 games between 2019 and 2021. This year’s group has already won 24 times and has a chance to improve that record in its state sectional game on Monday.
Camdenton (24-8) will face Capital City or Helias Catholic, who will play for the District 5 title Saturday.
“It’s just so rewarding,” said Camdenton senior Ryah Moore, the lone remaining player from the 2017 team that won just six games. “We’ve worked so hard for it and I’m so proud of all the girls that have helped me get here. Without them, we wouldn’t have been here and so it’s very rewarding to work so hard for four years and finally get it.”
Camdenton and Branson were tied 2-2 at the end of the third inning, but the Lakers pulled away by scoring two runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. It mirrored a trend from Wednesday’s semifinal victory over Glendale, when the Lakers overcame a four-run deficit with a six-run sixth inning to stun the tournament hosts.
“We’re a late-inning team,” Camdenton coach Tyler Dinsdale said. “We usually score a majority of our runs in the fourth and the fifth and the sixth innings. I don’t know if they’re just trying to see the pitchers or what, but once they get accustomed to a pitcher then we usually have some pretty good success. I think they get a little bit more comfortable up at the plate and that kind of leads into that late-inning success that we’ve got.”
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Camdenton found some moderate success in Friday’s early innings, too.
After Branson pitcher Sierra Dailey led off the game with a solo home run to center, the Lakers responded in the bottom of the first. Addi Clay reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and came around to score after a Branson outfielder misplayed Moore’s hard-hit single.
Zoe Lockhert gave Camdeton a 2-1 lead with a two-out solo homer in the bottom of the third, but Branson’s Jocelyn McQueen led off the fourth with another solo shot to equalize the score.
The timing of both Branson home runs – one to lead off the game, the other immediately after Camdenton took its first lead – could have rattled Camdenton pitcher Cayden VonSande.
But the sophomore was unfazed, and allowed just one baserunner the rest of the night. She surrendered just four hits, walked no one and struck out nine batters to shut down the Pirates.
“Cayden brings a confidence and positivity to the team that just affects everyone,” Moore said. “It rubs off on everyone. She doesn’t let things like that get her down because she knows she should go right back and get the next batter. It really helps us to keep our spirits up.”
Camdenton’s bats took over from there.
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Kodi Stidham walked to lead off the fourth and eventually came around to score on Rylee Meyer’s single. VonSande added a sacrifice fly later in the inning that scored Jamiee Hendrix.
Lockhert led off the fifth with a double, stole third and scored on a wild pitch. Anna Lucas made it 6-2 with an RBI single that brought home Stidham.
Clay (double) and Moore (single) drove in runs in the sixth, then VonSande pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning to send Camdenton back to the state tournament.
“The first two innings, we were really anxious and didn’t know what we were seeing,” VonSande said. “As we went on, we got our composure back and we were under control. We started to tee off and hit more base hits to score some more runs.”
That’s a hallmark of many young teams, but Camdenton’s experience over the past three seasons set them up for precisely this kind of situation.
“We’re a pretty young class,” Dinsdale said. “We’ve got a lot of juniors. Most have started since their freshman year. I think those down years helped us build these years that we’ve got right now because we’ve got girls that saw what it was like to lose. From there, they kind of built off that. They had really high goals coming into the season and they for sure exceeded the expectation that we’ve had so far.”
“We definitely had to hit rock bottom to get here,” Moore added. “We knew what losing felt like. I think it made us want it more.”
Branson finished 16-18, which included an 0-9 record in the ultra-competitive Central Ozark Conference. But the Pirates scored 37 runs in their final two regular-season games and rode the momentum all the way to the district championship game, which included an extra-innings victory over West Plains in the tournament semifinals.
“A lot of the teams that finished in the top of the COC, we were right there with them,” Branson coach Josh McKee said. “And then once we finished the COC, our girls kind of just bear down. They had a dream of making it to the championship game – that was kind of their main goal for the season – and a switch kind of flipped and things started going our way. They didn’t start working harder, they’ve worked hard all year. Things just started falling into place for them.”
The loss marked the end of Dailey’s stellar high school career.
She was already the first Branson player to earn first-team all-state honors last fall, and her sixth-inning double on Friday was her 54th hit of the year – a single-season school record.
“She’s been a huge asset for the program the last four years,” McKee said. “Hitting-wise, there’s not much better around than her at the plate. She’s a workhorse. She’s always hitting on her own. She’s always giving herself the opportunity. All the seniors in the program … they’ve left a lasting impression.”
There’s no doubt that Camdenton’s success this fall will also leave a mark on the team. But they’ll first have a chance to build on that success in the state tournament.
“We had some losses this year and our girls are well aware that any team at any time can be beat,” Dinsdale said. “That includes us. We don’t take anything for granted as far as being up or looking past a team or looking past anybody like that. We know that we have to take everybody, especially right now in a you-lose-you-go-home situation. We have to take everybody as ‘This could be it.’ They’re just really resilient as far as everything that they’ve gotten through. Really proud of how they push through and fight.”
