DELTA FINDS 1A FINAL FOUR IN 1ST FALL SEASON

Worth County is in the Missouri Class 1A Final Four of high school softball for the first time, which naturally has the school and community excited.

But the Lady Tigers have nothing on Delta's Lady Bobcats, who are in the 1A Final Four not only for the first time but also fielded a fall softball team for the first time this year.

So imagine the excitement that the Lady Bobcats and their followers are experiencing.

"Everybody is really fired up," said Delta coach Anne Trieb, whose squad previously competed only in the spring, when no playoffs are held. "It's really kind of overwhelming, what the girls have done in their first year (of fall play).

"The whole school and community are really behind us. I know we'll have a lot of people following us (to the final four)."

Delta (8-13) and Worth County (18-7) will square off at 11 a.m. today in a 1A semifinal game at the Rainbow Softball Complex in Columbia, Mo. The other semifinal pits Silex (18-4) against North Shelby (25-2). Saturday's third-place game will be at 11 a.m., with the title contest at 4 p.m.

"It should be really exciting," said Trieb. "We don't really know what to expect, since we haven't been there before, but I'm sure all the other teams will be very good."

A lack of playoff experience hasn't seemed to bother Delta so far. Trieb figures her squad was helped out in the long run by a rugged schedule. As one of only two 1A fall softball programs in Southeast Missouri, the Lady Bobcats had to play virtually all bigger schools during the regular season, which explains their unimpressive overall record.

"Our record doesn't look real good, but we played some really tough teams (during the regular season)," Trieb said. "When we were playing those teams, and I thought we were playing pretty well but not winning that much, I didn't know if it was helping us or not. I thought the girls might get discouraged. But they didn't and I'm sure our scheduled helped us once districts started."

Delta's primary pitcher is sophomore Rebecca Cook, who is 6-8 with an earned-run average of 3.38, which is impressive considering some of the bigger schools she faced in the regular season. Cook, who averages well over a strikeout per inning, has been particularly strong in the playoffs.

"Rebecca has really been pitching well lately," said Trieb.

The Lady Bobcats have a team batting average of about .275, with three players hitting above .300: Cook (.362) and the squad's only two seniors, Erin Cook (.362) and Stephanie Dannenmueller (.345).

"We're a really young team," Trieb said. "When the season started, our goal was to win district. Now everything else has kind of been like icing on the cake, but we don't want to stop now. We're going up there for one thing and that's to win it all."

Worth County's ace hurler is senior Ashley Dowis, who is 18-3 with an ERA of barely above 2.00.

Offensively, the Lady Tigers have a team batting average of only about .250, with just two batters above .300. Sophomore April Miller is actually hitting a little better than .400 while junior Kayna Wake is Worth County's other big stick.

"Our team has really gotten strong at the right time," said Worth County assistant coach Amy Jackson. "We're really excited, but we know all the other schools will be very tough."