PB softball ready for Oakville

It’s not about how you start, it’s about the finish, and the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules softball team managed to finish off the season strong right before

districts.

The Lady Mules finished the regular season with three straight victories, their last being over a touch Kelly squad. Head softball coach Aaron Duncan said getting their last win over Kelly was the momentum they needed heading into the postseason.

“It feels good to close out the regular season with a win, and we feel pretty good about going into districts,” Duncan said. “From players one through nine, we feel like we can hit the ball and put the ball in play. We can make plays and have some kids that can attack the gaps. I believe our chances this year are as strong as any other team. We can do different things at the plate and on defense, so we feel good about the postseason because we’ve definitely improved.”

Duncan said the Lady Mules’ goals were geared towards getting better all season. Although the start was rocky, he said the team played much better in the second half of the season. The Lady Mules will hit the road to St. Louis to take on the Oakville Lady Tigers in the first round of the Class 5 District 1 Tournament.

Last season, Oakville entered as the number-one seed in the district tournament and defeated the Lady Mules 13-4. This season, the Lady Mules finished with a 9-10 record, a significant jump from their previous year’s record of 7-22. While the Lady Mules brought home the district championship in 2021, Duncan believes his team has the same shot as any other team to make it back.

“Oakville is a touch team any time we matchup,” Duncan said. “Last year, we were beating them for part of the game, but they came back and won. Despite the loss, I feel like we have a good shot. This entire season, I’ve emphasized playing a complete game and not allowing minimal mistakes to take us out of the game.

“If we just go up there and play our game and just be ourselves. We’ve talked about playing against the game all year and not worrying about the opponent. We must be ready mentality and just go out there and play the game of softball and enjoy it. We need to play for each other and encourage each other, and everything else takes care of itself.”

Sophomore Addison Valenzuela and senior Ashtyn Reese led the Lady Mules in hits this season with 25 from each, while Kennedy Zgaynor connected with 24 hits and led the team in home runs with three. Reese did major work bringing her teammates across the plate and ended the season with 31 RBIs. Molly Eason collected 1000 pitches from the mound, finished 5-6 and had 32 strikeouts.

Duncan said the same players have stepped up all year, and he expects the same during the postseason. He said the entire team needs to be ready to play and step up in all areas when they step on the field with Oakville.

“Having a successful postseason is just a matter of having a collective effort and everybody just playing for each other,” he said. “There’s been different players to step up throughout the year, and I want to see that continue. We just need to go up there Thursday, play as hard as we can, and see what happens.”