C1Q1: Softball super stars, super teams set to collide

The anticipation of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark’s professional debut on Tuesday had basketball fans, regardless of gender, having heart palpitations with excitement across the nation.

On a more local level, the same euphoria ought to be felt as high school softball fans await Wednesday’s scintillating match-up between area powers Holcomb (24-4) and Advance with Bell City (20-2) in the MSHSAA Class 1 Quarterfinal 1.

The game will be played in Advance at 4:30 p.m. and will not only pit two of the top teams in the state but also two of the best players anywhere.

Advance/Bell City junior pitcher Addi Carlton has been nothing short of phenomenal – again – this spring while there may not be a better hitter in Southeast Missouri than Holcomb senior Maleigh Lemings.

“Maleigh is a special player,” sixth-year Hornet coach Matt Casper said recently. “She’s a special athlete. She is probably one of the best athletes, boy or girl, that I’ve coached.”

That is saying something.

Casper has led the Holcomb softball program to three District titles, as well as a couple of trips to the MSHSAA State Finals. He has also led the school’s volleyball program to three District titles in the past six seasons.

“It’s the fact that she comes in, day in and day out, and puts the work in,” Casper continued. “When you are one of the better players at a small school, sometimes it is easy to be complacent. She is not.

“Maleigh comes out here and she is usually the first one on the (hitting) tee. That sets an example for the rest of these girls.”

In the dramatic 10-9 win over South Pemiscot in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 1 championship game, Lemings belted her eighth home run of the spring before being intentionally walked twice times. However, with her team tied at nine runs and bases loaded, the Bulldogs had no choice but to pitch to Lemings in the eighth inning – sort of.

The South Pemiscot pitcher threw four straight balls, as she desperately tried not to give Lemings something that she could connect with.

“As a Class 1 player,” Casper said, “I couldn’t ask for much more defensively (at shortstop) or offensively.”

Lemings will play for East Central Community College in Mississippi next year and holds MSHSAA records for most RBI in a single season, as well as most runs scored in a single season.

As far as Carlson goes, the orange-and-black Hornets are going to try and ride her as far as they can this month.

The right-hander threw 16 innings over three MSHSAA Class 1 District 2 wins last week and allowed just one earned run, four walks, and struck out 30 batters.

“(Carlton) has just continued to take the ball in big spots and come up huge,” veteran Advance/Bell City coach James Hamlin told Semoball.com following his team’s 6-1 victory over Oran in the District title game. “She just continues to go out, give us quality starts and give us opportunities to win, and that's all you can ask for.”

The Advance/Bell City District title was the program’s first since 2021 when it also advanced to the MSHSAA State Finals and finished fourth.