Perryville softball team thirsty to top record for victories

BENTON, Mo. -- Last year's Perryville High School softball team broke the program record for wins.

The 2010 Pirates might do it again.

Perryville continued another impressive season with Wednesday's 7-4 victory over perennial power Kelly.

The game was supposed to be played in Perryville but rain in the area forced a switch to Kelly's field. The Pirates were the home squad on the scoreboard.

"It was a good game for us," Perryville coach Jeff Steffens said. "We've been hitting the ball very well the last few weeks and defensively we've played above average. Hopefully we can keep it up."

Perryville's Casey Hotop, left, congratulates teammate Morgan Baer after scoring a run against Kelly during the first inning Wednesday. (Kristin Eberts)

Offense, defense and pitching all were solid for the Pirates on Wednesday as they improved to 17-2.

Last year's Pirates went 21-6 and lost to eventual Class 3 state champion Notre Dame 3-2 in the district title game.

The Pirates have a strong chance of getting another postseason shot at Notre Dame since they'll almost certainly be the top two seeds for the upcoming district tournament.

"We play them next week in Perryville and that will decide who gets the No. 1 seed," Steffens said.

Said senior first baseman Courtney Hotop: "We're looking to beat them this year."

Perryville's Aleshia Reiss tags out Kelly base runner Sydney Vinyard at second during the fourth inning Wednesday in Benton, Mo.

Steffens can't complain about the season Perryville is having no matter what happens in the district.

Perryville's resurgent program is thriving again despite losing seven seniors from last year.

"We lost a large group of seniors, but these girls have stepped in," Steffens said. "There are a lot of summer leagues now [in Perryville] that the kids are playing in. It's keeping them interested.

"Last year we broke the school record for wins, and we may get it again."

Perryville won Wednesday despite not using its pitching ace of the past two seasons, junior Casey Hotop. She is 15-1 this year after going 21-6 as a sophomore.

There is nothing wrong with the Pirates' top hurler, who played second base Wednesday. Steffens simply wanted freshman Kelcie Fahnestock to get some work after she missed time with an injury.

"We'll need her to pitch some in districts," Steffens said. "We were kind of looking toward that."

Fahnestock showed she is more than capable by working all seven innings. She allowed nine hits and three earned runs, with four strikeouts and no walks.

"I'd have to say my changeup and just my fastball," Fahnestock said of what worked well for her Wednesday.

Fahnestock retired 11 straight batters before allowing two runs on three hits with two outs in the seventh inning. But the Hawks' rally ended there.

"She did very well," Steffens said.

Perryville had nine hits, led by Courtney Hotop, senior left fielder Rebecca Gremaud and junior catcher Morgan Baer with two each.

Courtney Hotop doubled and drove in two runs. Baer tripled and Gremaud doubled.

"We hit the ball when we show up, when we put our mind to it," Courtney Hotop said.

Kelly (12-6) also had nine hits, led by center fielder Emily Grojean with three.

Shortstop Jade Rampley, second baseman Kaitlin Glastetter and left fielder Sydney Vinyard all added two hits.

The Hawks' downfall was defense as they committed six errors, which made five of Perryville's seven runs unearned.

"We've had a few shaky games, but this was definitely our worst," Kelly coach Melanie Heuring said. "But Perryville has a lot of good hitters."

Perryville committed both its errors in the first inning as the Hawks scored an unearned run.

Kelly then made three errors in the bottom of the frame as Perryville grabbed control with four runs, only one earned.

Junior third baseman Brittany Young and sophomore designated player Tiarra Sparkman both had RBI singles in the inning while Courtney Hotop added an RBI ground out.

It was 7-2 before Kelly rallied in the seventh inning with two outs.

Grojean and Glastetter singled and scored on a double by Rampley, who was thrown out at third to end the contest.

Kristen Powell, who has pitched every game for Kelly, took the loss.

Despite the defeat, the Hawks still figure to be a solid playoff contender even though they lost five key seniors from last year's team that made the Class 2 quarterfinals.

Kelly reached the final four the previous three seasons.

"We've maybe surprised some people this year," Heuring said.

Kelly 101 000 2 -- 4 9 6

Perryville 411 100 x -- 7 9 2

WP -- Kelcie Fahnestock. LP -- Kristen Powell. 3B -- Morgan Baer (P). 2B -- Jade Rampley (K), Rebecca Gremaud (P), Courtney Hotop (P). Multiple hits -- Kelly: Emily Grojean 3-4, Sydney Vinyard 2-3, Rampley 2-4, Kaitlin Glastetter 2-4. Perryville: Baer 2-3, Gremaud 2-3, Hotop 2-4. Records -- Kelly 12-6, Perryville 17-2.