Bernie SB uses 'creative' offense to dominate mistake-prone Bearcats

ADVANCE – Bernie High School softball coach Brad Botsch knew full well heading into the Mules’ Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament game with Dexter that his team wasn’t going to crank out double-digit hits, not with Bearcat thrower Amelia Jenkins on the mound.

“You have to be creative,” Botsch said. “You have to do what you have to do to find a way to score runs.”

That proved to be the case, as the Mules converted just five hits into 20 runs, and beat the Bearcats 20-13 to advance to today’s championship game with Woodland.

“I thought our hitters put some really good bunts down,” Botsch continued.

Bernie (5-11) got revenge from an earlier 12-9 loss to the Bearcats, and it did so with several great bunts, some daring baserunning, and some aggressive strategy from Botsch.

“(Jenkins) is a good pitcher,” Botsch said. “We used a lot of aggressive baserunning, tried to steal a lot of bases, trying to put pressure on the defense.

“Fortunately, it worked out for us.”

Jenkins, who recently earned her 400th career strikeout, allowed just two earned runs and five hits, which made the Mules’ output seem nonsensical. However, Dexter (4-6) committed 16 errors, which fueled the Bernie onslaught.

“Bernie is a very strong mental team,” Bearcat coach Starla Pulley said. “It doesn’t matter what age they are; those girls are mentally strong.”

The Mules’ roster features 11 players that are either freshmen or sophomores and doesn’t include a senior, but Bernie kept the pressure on Dexter until the final out.

“Our mental focus wasn’t here,” Pulley said.

Nor was it in Wednesday’s 10-0 loss to Advance in the third-place game.

“You can’t make that many errors,” Pulley explained, “and expect to beat a good team like that.”

Bernie produced runs in every single inning, as it took a 5-0 lead in the second inning. However, five-run innings in both the sixth and seventh innings clinched the victory, as Dexter scored five runs in its final at-bat.

“Credit to Dexter,” Botsch said, “they kept fighting.”

Junior Abbygail Powell paced Bernie with three hits, three RBI, and a pair of runs, which was impressive given she injured her arm sliding into third base early in the game.

“I heard it pop,” Botsch said of Powell’s arm. “We examined her, had a couple of people look at her, and she sat there and gathered herself a little bit.

“She felt OK after a bit.”

Powell not only was strong offensively but played a great game at catcher, which included gunning a Bearcat down at first base to end the game.

Mule sophomore Macie Botsch had a hit, a walk, an RBI, and scored three runs, while Blair Pleimling (two runs, three walks), Kerri Botsch (one run), Mikalyn Kirkwood (one hit, one RBI, two walks), Kealea Powell (two walks, three runs), Rylie Powell (two runs, one walk), Mackenzie Meese (one run, one walk), Elicia Freeman (three runs, one RBI), and Kalli Mason (two runs) also contributed.

Pleimling worked all seven innings on the mound and allowed nine hits and seven earned runs. She walked 10 and struck out nine.

Dexter senior Kinleigh Chappell and sophomore Alexis Sisk each had three hits, while Chappell banged out a grand slam in the final inning to finish with two runs scored and six RBI.

Sisk added two runs and three RBI, while Payton Short (one hit, one run, two RBI), Jenkins (one hit, one run, two walks), Isabella Pittman (one RBI, two walks), Emily Hester (one hit, one run, one walk), Molly Simmons (three runs, two walks), Elizabeth Norris (two runs, three walks), and Ava Schaefer (one run) also were productive.

Jenkins walked 10 and struck out 12 batters.

Bernie will play Woodland (6-3) for the tournament title, while Dexter will host the Swing Pink Tournament on Saturday.