Kelly softball team wins third place in Class 2

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Kelly Hawks softball team found a way to end its season on a high note just two hours after watching its Class 2 title hopes disappear in a semifinal loss to Brookfield.

The Hawks scored four unanswered runs to defeat Palmyra, last year's state champion, in Friday's third-place game 5-4.

"You always go back and think, I wish I had that first game to do over again," Kelly coach Rhonda Ratledge said about the semifinal loss. "But it's OK. I'm so glad we went out on a good note because this is exactly what the Kelly Lady Hawks had looked like all year."

Kelly was able to take advantage of most of the opportunities given to them by the Panthers, who beat the Hawks at the 2007 and 2008 final four, despite being outhit 9-7.

Kelly scored one run in the first inning and senior Jessica Worth tied the game in the third frame with a three-run home run.

Kelly players celebrate after the last out of their 5-4 victory ove Palmyra in the Class 2 third-place game Friday. (Brent Shipman ~ Standard-Democrat)

The Hawks plated the winning run on Palymyra's lone error of the contest. Kelly looked like it was going to waste a leadoff double by sophomore Morgan LeDure in the fifth inning when Worth lifted a two-out pop up to the second baseman. However, the ball fell out of her glove and LeDure scored for a 5-4 lead.

Three more shutout innings from freshman pitcher Alexis Dock sealed the win.

"It feels awesome," Worth said about the third-place finish. "I told myself and the rest of the seniors, ‘We are not leaving here with fourth place again. We're leaving with third.'"

The Kelly team that took the field against the Panthers was hardly recognizable compared to the one that started the day with a 7-0 loss to Brookfield in the semifinals.

The Hawks were unable to find any rhythm on a cold, windy morning and surrendered three early runs to Brookfield. They were outhit 14-5 in the contest.

On top of their offensive problems, a pair of errors and several other defensive mistakes kept Kelly from mounting a comeback. Brookfield added insurance runs in the second, third and sixth innings.

"Brookfield just came out and they wanted it," Ratledge said. "You could tell it from the get-go. My girls weren't upbeat or anything and just kind of settled in. They just weren't in it."

Added sophomore Stephanie Worth, "I think we were nervous the first game, and then that first inning got us."

The Kelly players took a trip to the bus to get warm and shake off the disappointment. They came out a rejuvenated team that attacked Palmyra with a run in the top of the first.

Palmyra retaliated with four runs of their own, but it was Worth's three-run home run over the left-field wall that proved pivotal.

Palmyra had taken a 4-1 lead on a three-home run by Kelsey Martin in the second inning.

Kelly immediately came back with a walk from Dock and a single from Stephanie Worth to put runners on first and second in the third inning.

Jessica Worth said what happened next was eerily similar to the girls' recent conversation.

"It's funny," she said. "We were actually sitting in the dugout the inning before, after they had [homered], and I said, ‘Morgan [LeDure], Alexis and Stephanie are going to get on, then I'm going to hit it.'

"Morgan got out, but the others got on. It felt great."

Worth later went on to drive in the winning run on her final at-bat as a Hawk.

For a group of seniors that experienced a 7-6 loss to Brookfield in the third-place game in 2010, Friday's comeback was especially sweet.

"I just didn't want a repeat of two years ago," senior Sydney Vinyard said. "That first game was kind of a repeat since it was against Brookfield and they got up to seven.

"You have to have the determination, and we definitely had that coming in to the second game [against Palmyra]."

Class 2

Third-place

Kelly 5, Palmyra 4

Kelly 103 010 0 -- 5 7 0

Palmyra 130 000 0 -- 4 9 1

WP -- Alexis Dock. LP -- Madison Ragar. HR -- Jessica Worth (K); Kelsey Martin (P). 2B -- LeDure (K), Kristi Brucker (K), Caldwell (P), Jamie Martin (P). Multiple hitters: Kelly, Morgan LeDure 2-4, Stephanie Worth 2-3; Palmyra, Brianne Caldwell 3-3.

Semifinal

Brookfield 7, Kelly 0

Kelly 000 000 0 -- 0 5 2

Brookfield 310 102 x -- 7 14 0

WP -- Samantha Overton. LP -- Alexis Dock. 2B -- Alesa Frey (B), Natlie Wheeler, Kearns. Multiple hitters: Kelly, Kristi Brucker 2-3; Brookfield, Alesa Frey 2-4, Bailey Parks 3-3, Wheeler 2-3, Ashley Kearns 3-3.