JACKSON VICTIM OF SHUTOUT STREAK

ST. LOUIS -- Nobody believed Kacie Flinn had what she said she had.

"This freshman kid walks in and tells us she's got all these pitches," Rockwood Summit softball coach Doug Robinson said. "We thought, 'yeah, right.' But now we know she's got them, and they work. Fastball, change up, drop ball, drop curve, screw ball. She's confident throwing all of them."

It's plain to see how Flinn has won over her doubters. She is in the midst of a streak of 44 consecutive scoreless innings after shutting out Jackson 1-0 in a Class 4A quarterfinal at Lafayette High School in St. Louis on Saturday.

Flinn (17-5) allowed three hits, struck out five and walked nobody as Summit (18-7) advanced to its first-ever state semifinal.

"I didn't think we hit the ball very crisply," Jackson coach Becky Riney said. "She had us off-balance a little, and we were drilling it into the ground."

Jackson finished the season 22-7.

Beth Becker went four scoreless innings, striking out two, before running into trouble in the fifth. Trisha Oberhaus started the rally with a walk, and after Lindsay Brockmeier's sacrifice bunt, Katie Jordan walked.

Gretchen King relieved for Jackson. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and a sharp single up the middle by freshman Christa Hale scored Oberhaus.

Jordan was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Jessica Shultz, but the damage had been done.

"I was excited to hold them to one run at the time, because it's easier to score one run than two," Riney said.

The run didn't come. But after going down in order in the sixth inning, its third 1-2-3 inning in the game, the Lady Indians made it interesting in the seventh.

Amanda Bollinger led off the seventh inning with a single to left field, and advanced to second base on a one out bloop single to left field by Melissa Palmer.

With one out, Shultz drilled a Flinn delivery on a line toward right field, but Hale, playing second base, jumped to snag it and threw to second to double the runner off base.

Game over.

"I thought, 'Oh, my God, we're tied,' when it left the bat," Robinson said. "But (Hale) is a basketball player. She's done that before."

The Lady Indians had not played a quarterfinal softball game before Saturday. A few inches could have put them in a semifinal.

"I couldn't ask Jessica to hit that ball any harder than she did," Riney said.

Jackson was hitting .325 as a team going into the game.

"We were very versatile," Riney said. "We had so many players who gained experience because of (injuries early in the season). And I had two great pitchers I could count on."

Bollinger had all three of Jackson's hits, including a one-out double in the fourth inning.