Kelly is on a joy ride to semifinals

BENTON — Over seven hours on a school bus.

Sounds like fun, huh?

That's what the Kelly softball team thought as it prepared for the Class 2 state tournament in St. Joseph.

"I think 7 1/2 hours locked on a school bus with my teammates will be the best time ever," Kelly's Londyn Backfisch said Monday. "I think it's going to be a lot of fun with our coaches. You're with your best friends and your teammates and sharing a bunch of fun memories throughout the season. It's going to be a blast. I can't wait for it."

Backfisch wasn't the only one looking forward to the ride.

"It sounds awful, but I think we can make it enjoyable," senior Katee Moore said. "We make the biggest joke out of something so small. That's how we are with everything. We make fun of each other. ... I really think it won't be too awful with the girls we've got."

The Hawks (22-4) left for St. Joseph on Thursday with one goal in mind — winning the school's first state title since 2004. They face a familiar opponent in today's semifinal round — Marion C. Early (21-8).

Kelly beat the team from Morrisville, Mo., 4-1 in last year's third-place game.

"I hope we don't underestimate them because we beat them last year," Kelly senior Casey Kern said. "But knowing that we can beat them, I think it will help a lot of underclassmen with nerves and stuff.

"They had a pretty good pitcher. She throws pretty hard. They had a few good hitters, but it was mostly at the top of the lineup. I think just knowing those little things will help us."

Marion C. Early pitcher Bailey Williams struck out six and allowed eight hits against the Hawks last year. She is 12-4 with a 1.37 ERA this season. Kelly coach Rhonda Ratledge expects her team to face Williams again today.

"We knew we beat them for that third-place game last year," Ratledge said. "My sticks, all nine, are definitely a lot stronger this year. I feel very confident with the girls putting the ball in play."

Danielle Dock is Kelly's leading pitching. She's 12-3 with a 0.99 ERA. She's struck out 113 in 98 2/3 innings.

The Hawks enter the state tournament with a .341 team batting average. They've scored 200 runs and collected 233 hits.

Moore is batting .467 with 33 RBIs, while Kern is batting .403 with six homers and 28 RBIs. Backfisch provides speed at the top of the lineup with 41 stolen bases.

Part of Kelly's success comes from its ability to use bunts and sacrifices to put pressure on the defense.

"You don't need hits to the outfield or those gap shots," Ratledge said. "Definitely we'll take those and it helps put that first runner on sometimes. But softball is designed not only for those long line-drive shots, but also that small ball. Hopefully we've proved that. We've been playing small ball now for almost 15 years and it's proven to work."

While the Kelly players would like to lean on their experience to make the difference this year, they know Marion C. Early also gained valuable experience last year. But Kern said she sees a difference in her team this year.

"Since we haven't won, I don't think of it as being more pressure," she said. "I think everybody realizes that this is it in softball. You don't get to do this every other day. I think that's what I like about the pressure."

The winner of the Kelly vs. Marion C. Early semifinal will play the winner of the Palmyra vs. Mid-Buchanan winner at 1 p.m. Saturday. The losers of the two semifinals will play for third place today at 5 p.m.