Advance softball team quiets Charleston comeback to reach district final

SCOTT CITY -- The Advance softball team was supposed to build an early lead and cruise into today's Class 1 District 5 spring softball championship.

Except somebody forgot to tell that to Charleston.

Advance, the district's second seed, saw its 7-0 lead seriously challenged by third-seeded Charleston's six-run fifth inning Tuesday in a district semifinal at Scott City. But the Hornets survived the rally, and put together their own six-run inning in the bottom of the sixth to score a 13-6 victory over the Blue Jays and advance to today's final against Scott City.

"We needed to refocus," Advance coach James Hamlin said about his trip to the mound in the top of the fifth after Charleston had cut the Hornets' lead to 7-4. "Focus has been our key word all year, and I reminded them of that because they kind of lost it in that inning and let a lot of things happen. We hadn't had anything like that in three or four weeks, and we just kind of let it snowball on us."

Advance (10-5) had built its lead with two runs in each of the first two innings, then plated three in the fourth to make it 7-0. They used a triple by Hannah Clark, a double from Kimsey Lillard and two Charleston errors to score twice in the bottom of the first. In the second, Krystal James led off with a triple and scored on Denae Cato's infield single. Cato later scored on Sydney Bailey's bases-loaded walk.

Advance pitcher Hannah Clark throws to a Charleston batter during the second inning in the Class 1 District 5 tournament semifinal in Scott City. The Rams won 13-6. More photos from the game can be viewed at semoball.com. (Adam Vogler)

Bailey had a two-run single in the fourth, and later scored on a throwing error to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead.

Clark, the Hornets' starter in the circle, was cruising along with a one-hitter until the fifth, when Charleston strung together seven hits, including a two-run single from Wendy Cross, to cut the lead to 7-6.

"Early on, we hit them with a shot and they came back," Hamlin said. "I reminded them that nobody's giving them anything. We had to earn every step. [We] came back and got those last outs in that inning and came out and hammered the ball around to hang that six-spot in the bottom of the sixth and secure the win."

Bailey started off the big inning with a single, taking third on Lillard's double to center. Kendra Sokolowski plated both with a two-run single to right, taking second herself on a throwing error. James singled to center, scoring Sokolowski, and moved to second on a throw home. One out later, Jordan Eaton bunted for a single and went all the way to third on a throwing error that allowed James to score and make it 12-6. Cato's bunt single scored Eaton from third with the game's final run.

"The past few practices we've been hitting pretty hard," said James, who finished 3 for 3 with a single, double and triple. "We've been going at it. That's what gets us [runs]. Gotta do it."

Bailey noted contagious hitting on the team.

"Once you get us pumped up, we all follow suit," said Bailey, who finished 3 for 4 and drove in four runs while scoring three times. "Once one starts hitting, we all start hitting."

Advance totaled 19 hits to back the pitching of Clark, who recovered from the shaky fifth inning to allow just single hits in the sixth and seventh innings, striking out three more batters to earn the win. Clark ended up allowing six runs on 10 hits, striking out nine and not walking a batter.

"We made one mistake, and that became two and became a big mess out there," Clark said about the fifth inning that allowed the Blue Jays to get back into the contest. "But we got those outs, got back in here, and our offense really stepped it up."

Seven Hornets had multiple hits, which Clark said made her job easier.

"We've struggled with that, but we've got it together these past few games," she said about her team's ability to hit throughout the lineup. "Our offense is rocking up and down the lineup. The bottom's coming through, top's coming through, everything's coming through.

"And it's so much easier to pitch when you've got those insurance runs up there. Our offense really stepped it up and helped me out there."

Charleston coach Jen Miesner was proud of the way her team battled back after the early deficit.

"It was 7-0 and we came back to 7-6," Miesner said as her team finished 6-10. "Then that one inning that they go, they just started hitting on us. ... We had hope, we were believing in it, but we just couldn't get the hits."

Charleston 000 060 0 -- 6 10 6

Advance 220 306 x -- 13 19 2

WP -- Hannah Clark. LP -- Madyson McDermott. 2B -- Marissa Crawford (C), Clark (A), Kimsey Lillard 2 (A), Krystal James (A). 3B: Clark (A), James (A). Multiple hits: Advance -- Denae Cato 2-5, Madison Brown 3-5, Clark 2-4, Sydney Bailey 3-4, Lillard 2-5, James 3-3, Maddie Kennedy 2-4. Records: Charleston 6-10, Advance 10-5.