Delta, Oran win semifinal softball games

DELTA -- Kendra Burnett wasted no time proving she was at her best Friday.

Delta's junior pitcher struck out seven of the first nine Chaffee batters she faced and finished with 11 punchouts on the day. She surrendered one hit.

The Bobcats' offense provided plenty of support as Delta downed Chaffee 10-0 in six innings in their Class 1 District 1 softball semifinal.

Delta advanced to today's 2 p.m. championship game against Oran (10-7), an 11-5 winner against Naylor in Friday's other semifinal.

"Obviously she throws the ball well," Chaffee coach Shawn Powderly said of Burnett. "She's done that all year long. We knew that coming in. We faced her earlier in the year. Put the ball in play against her, that's the main thing, and we didn't do a very good job of that today."

After Burnett retired Chaffee (7-13) in order in the first, the Bobcats (15-8) went to work against Red Devils pitcher Madelyn Kiefer. The first three Delta batter reached on singles, and Katie Brucker stroked a one-out single to right field that scored three.

"I've had bases loaded before on me and I've struck out," Brucker said. "Today, I was just like, 'I've got to do this for my team.'"

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Delta's Jodi Menz slides safely into home ahead of the throw to Chaffee catcher Hannah Bedwell.

Brucker's hit did more than give her team an early lead.

"It got our nerves out of it," she said. "We were all nervous before. Getting three runs on the board early helped us out a lot. I calmed down a lot."

Burnett struck out the next six batters she faced after her team provided her with the lead.

"I just threw as hard as I could," she said. "They were missing my screwball."

Burnett didn't limit her influence on the game to her right arm. She also went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

"I was just swinging and hoping I hit it," Burnett said.

Chaffee's lone hit came in the fifth inning when Hannah Bedwell looped a single to right field.

"We're always aggressive," Powderly said. "We don't go up there looking to walk. We go up there to hit the ball. [Burnett] was that good today and we weren't."

The Bobcats built on their lead in the third when Rachel Bartels and Amanda Seabaugh each drove in a run. They tacked on another two in the fourth on run-scoring singles by Burnett and Courtney Burton.

Burnett pushed the lead to 9-0 in the fifth with a single that drove in Taylor Smith. The game ended in the sixth when Sam Bartels hit a grounder to second that Chaffee couldn't handle, allowing Rachel Bartels to score the 10th run of the game.

Burnett looked back at the first inning as a sign of good things to come in the game for her team.

"It took a lot of nerve off my back," she said. "I knew that we were going to get some hits today. We had our offense with us."

Oran 11, Naylor 5

Oran scored seven runs in the fourth inning as it rallied from a 5-4 deficit to defeat Naylor in the semifinals.

Halle Woodfin led the way for the Eagles with three doubles and four RBIs. Kirstie Mangels added two hits and Taylor Tenkhoff had a triple for Oran, which had 11 hits overall.

Claire Seyer pitched all seven innings for the Eagles, giving up just two earned runs as the Eagles defense committed four errors. Seyer struck out five, allowed seven hits and walked three.

Chaffee 000 000 -- 0 1 4

Delta 303 211 -- 10 15 0

WP -- Kendra Burnett. LP -- Madelyn Kiefer. Multiple hits -- Delta: Taylor Smith 3-4, Taylor Keys 2-3, Burnett 3-4, Katie Brucker 2-4, Courtney Burton 2-3. Records -- Chaffee 7-13, Delta 15-8.

Naylor 202 100 0 -- 5 7 2

Oran 013 700 0 -- 10 15 0

WP -- Claire Seyer. LP --Lane. 3B -- Taylor Tenkhoff (O). 2B -- Deckard (N), Halle Woodfin 3 (O). Multiple hits -- Naylor: Lane 2-4. Oran: Woodfin 3-4, Kirstie Mangels 2-3. Records -- Oran (10-7).