Portageville upsets Kelly in district final

PUXICO, Mo. -- For the second straight day in the Class 2 District 1 softball tournament, second-seeded Portageville needed a home run from one of its freshmen to keep its postseason hopes alive.

Freshman Savannah Lovins let a strike go by before belting a two-run home run over the left-field fence in the fourth inning of the championship game against top-seeded Kelly on Thursday at Puxico High School.

Portageville upset Kelly 2-0 for its first district softball title in school history. The Hawks had reached the final four the previous two seasons.

"I really never thought I would be the starter for this team as a freshman, and to come up in that spot feels really good," Lovins said. "I saw a fastball outside which I'm not really good at, and I was expecting a changeup, so when I saw the pitch come in it threw me off a little, but I was able to get my bat on it."

Freshman Alexis Glidewell hit a walk-off, two-run home run for Portageville (21-6) in a 2-1 win over third-seeded Saxony Lutheran in a semifinal Wednesday.

Portageville junior starting pitcher Taylor Tiffany cruised through seven complete innings, allowing just three hits to Kelly (22-4), which was seeking its third straight district title.

Tiffany had seven strikeouts, including one for the final out of the game.

"It was so exciting just to say that we made it to the championship, and then we shocked ourselves and won," Tiffany said. "It took everything I had to get them and keep them from missing and getting them out. I can't even put it into words how excited I am right now."

Tiffany retired the first 13 batters she faced and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning.

After the home run, Kelly coach Rhonda Ratledge said her assistant coaches and many other Kelly fans said they saw the ball roll under the fence, which would have been a ground-rule double. Ratledge said she was more focused on her left fielder, Morgan LeDure, who crashed into the fence while attempting to make the catch.

"That's what a lot of the fans said, and when I did walk out there after the game I noticed there is a gap in between the fence and the ground," Ratledge said. "It appeared like the ball just stopped on the other side of the fence, and if it were a home run it probably would've kept going."

Ratledge came out of the dugout to appeal the call, but the play stood.

"[The umpire along the left-field line] thought it went over so I asked for him to get some help on it from the other guys," Ratledge said. "It was the final ruling so we just had to go with it."

Kelly had beaten Portageville in all three of their previous meetings. The Hawks had won 5-2 early in the season, then beat the Bulldogs 1-0 in the championship game of the Notre Dame SoftballFest and 6-3 in the semifinals of the Jackson Invitational.

On Thursday, the Hawks struggled with runners in scoring position, going 0 for 3.

Kelly senior Shanda Reed broke up Tiffany's no-hitter with a one-out double in the fifth inning. However, Tiffany retired the next two batters to strand Reed.

Reed said Tiffany was one of the best pitchers the Hawks had seen all year.

"She got me the first time with the riseball on all three strikes," Reed said. "She's hard to go up against, and you have to give her credit. She did what she had to do today."

The Hawks had one final chance to score in the bottom of the seventh, but came up empty once again.

Kelly senior Kristi Brucker singled with one out in the inning, then advanced to second two batters later when Reed singled with two outs. Tiffany fanned the final batter.

Alexis Dock took the loss in the circle for Kelly. The junior allowed four hits and struck out eight in seven innings.

Reed and Brucker are two of six seniors Kelly will lose to graduation at the end of this year. Ratledge said five of the seniors have started since their freshman year.

"I remember that being a tough year because they had to step up to fill five of the nine spots in our lineup," Ratledge said about the 2011 season. "But looking back to now, those girls have grown and grown. They took us to state when they were sophomores, and they took us too when they were juniors. That was our goal this year and you always want to do that when you have a big class of seniors. It just didn't happen for us."

Reed only has been with the Hawks for one season since transferring from Cape Central following her junior season, but the Hawks' shortstop said she's learned a lot from her fellow teammates in that short time.

"I made a family. These are family members that I'll have forever," Reed said. "I also couldn't ask for a better coaching staff or a team to play with. This loss hurts, but I'll remember this team and everything we did together this season for a long time."

Portageville 000 200 0 -- 2 4 0

Kelly 000 000 0 -- 0 3 0

WP -- Taylor Tiffany. LP -- Alexis Dock. HR -- Savannah Lovins (P). 2B -- Shanda Reed (K). Multiple hits -- Kelly: Shanda Reed 2-3. Records -- Portageville 21-6, Kelly 22-5.