Scott City Lady Rams defeat Malden Lady Green Wave on the road

MALDEN, Mo. - The Scott City Lady Rams (4-4) softball team meant business on the road Thursday in its 6-3 victory against the Lady Green Wave (2-5).

Scott City scored one run in the first inning, one in the third, two in the fifth and two in the sixth to bring it home against last year's C2D1 champions, which scored all three runs in the fourth inning.

Lady Rams head coach Morgahn Petersen, in her debut season coaching, said her players made appropriate adjustments at the plate to gain the edge needed to win.

Scott City Lady Rams pitcher Mackenzie Lawless at bat Thursday at Malden.Photo by Steve Hankins

“Our bats came alive today,” Petersen said. “We played against a couple teams this week with quicker pitchers. So making that adjustment at the plate today was really good, one through nine.”

Thursday's outing featured three outstanding pitchers, Malden's senior Kinley Buchanan, All-District All Conference sophomore Alyssa Broom, and winning pitcher, senior Mackenzie Lawless.

“The umpire's strike zone was really tight today,” Lawless said postgame. “So I had to zone in and figure out how to work it. I think I did pretty good overall.”

Lawless, whose post-high school plans include studies in the Three Rivers College nursing program, was just as talented offensively and reached base twice, logging “a couple of RBIs,” Petersen noted.

“I moved some runners,” a humble Lawless said. “I had a pretty good day.”

Malden starting pitcher Thursday, Kinley Buchanan eyes the plate at home. Photo by Steve Hankins

Malden Lady Green Wave freshman Carson Cohen, who serves as catcher or shortstop, said Lawless was a tough pitcher to face.

“I didn't do as good as I wanted to hitting,” Cohen said. “I had a really good game offensively yesterday.

“But I didn't perform as good today,” she continued. “(Lawless), her ball has a lot of movement. Just that movement she has is pretty impressive.”

Scott City Lady Ram catcher, senior Gracie Karrenbrock said catching Lawless is both a treat and a thrill.

“I love catching Mackenzie,” Karrenbrock said. “I've caught her my whole high-school career.

“She's very good at hitting the spots that Coach Petersen makes me call. She's good at fielding even if the ball is hit back right at her.”

A Malden Lady Green Wave batter takes a swing Thursday at home.Photo by Steve Hankins

And one particular play at the plate early in the game was memorable, Karrenbrock noted.

“That one play where she trucked me,” the catcher laughed. “She hit the ball to shortstop and she was running.

“My shortstop, Alyssa Dirden threw it home and I had to tag it because it wasn't a forced out,” she explained. “I tagged her. She came in, slid and we both went down. But I caught it.”

A Malden Lady Green Wave batter looks one over at home Thursday against the Scott City Lady Rams.Photo by Steve Hankins

Although the Lady Green Wave lost by three runs, the team trailed by just one heading into the tumultuous sixth inning, where the wheels fell off for Malden.

“Things kind of went awry in that sixth inning,” Malden Lady Green Wave head coach Kyle Jones admitted. “We made a couple of mental and physical mistakes.

“We let them get that three-run lead,” the coach added. “And we had a couple of base-running mistakes that hurt us, too. That last infield fly rule cost us.”

Officials declared the infield fly rule, which treated Malden's hit fly ball as though it was caught, even if the infielder failed to catch or intentionally dropped the ball. The batter was out regardless of whether the ball was caught. The rule exists to prevent double or triple plays that occur when defensive players fail to catch a ball with ordinary effort or deliberately fail to catch a ball, according to official rules.

“My interpretation of the infield fly rule is if it's a routine play, and I felt like our second, short and center all were converging on the ball and couldn't get to it, right at the lip, I felt like it WAS an infield fly,” Jones said. “That really hurt us because we were down by three, had two on base, no outs and we ended up having two outs and one on.”

Malden's All District, All Conference pitcher Alyssa Broom warms up to close out Thursday's home game against Scott City. Photo by Steve Hankins

Jones said he knew coming in that Scott City was a solid team.

“They are really good,” he admitted. “They play some good teams really close.

“Like Kennett,” he added. “Wins and losses are important. But right now we just care about getting better each game. That's our mindset.”

The Lady Green Wave team has that opportunity at 4:30 p.m. Monday when Jones' team faces Van Buren at home.

The Lady Rams welcome Scott City Central at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the home field.