Scott City puts up fight in softball semis

~ Scott City made Kelly earn its way into the finals

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Scott City quickly found itself in a pickle during its Class 2 District 2 semifinal Tuesday.

Top-ranked Kelly loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning, threatening to blow open their contest. But Scott City pitcher Melanie Lacey and the Rams wiggled out of the mess without surrendering a run.

"We get real jumpy and nervous when that happens, but once we work together, the defense gets tighter and we just pull together and get an out," Rams senior Macy Heisserer said. "It gets us pumped."

Kelly managed to collect enough hits with runners in scoring position to down the Rams 3-0 in the semifinal. The Hawks advanced to beat Festus St. Pius for the district title.

But the Rams refused to go down without a fight, and Lacey played a big role in limiting the Hawks' offense. She struck out seven and walked two in a losing effort.

"I was just trying to move it around as much as I possibly could, just make them swing at whatever," Lacey said. "They're really tough."

She not only had to battle Kelly's lineup, she also had to contend with less-than-ideal conditions for softball. The cold and wind combined to make pitching difficult.

"It's very cold," Lacey said. "Mostly just when I'm in the dugout, keeping warm is the main thing. One thing I did is keep my batting gloves on to keep my hands warm."

The Rams' offense struggled to spark against Kelly ace Danielle Dock, who struck out 14. Scott City coach Amy Pobst said she worked all week to prepare her team to face the hard-throwing Dock.

"We practiced all week on extra-quick pitching," Pobst said. "Hopefully it would do the trick. You have to be out there and be ready."

Heisserer broke up Dock's no-hitter in the fifth inning with a two-out single to right-center field. She said she's pretty familiar with Dock's style.

"We used to play on the same team for three years in summer ball, so I'd seen her before," Heisserer said. "It's hard hitting her. You've got to watch her the whole time."

Heisserer said it's even tougher to face a pitcher like Dock when it's so cold.

"She just throws so hard and you don't know how to judge it," Heisserer said. "And everybody wasn't on top of their game today because of the weather. I just don't think we were all here mentally with the weather being so cold. They're a good team and we know they're going to be good."

The Rams (8-13) threatened in the sixth when Holli Shemonia led off with a walk and Lindsay Kern followed with a bunt single that never left the batter's box. But Dock struck out Lacey and got Stacey Heisserer to pop into a double play.

"We just failed to come through with the hit when we needed it tonight," Pobst said. "We got the opportunity a couple times and we didn't come through on it.

"I think they came through with the hits when they needed them, which was the difference in the game. They got the hits when they had runners in scoring, and we weren't able to. They were able to get them in scoring position a little more than we were, but that helped."

Scott City 000 000 0 -- 0 3 2

Kelly 011 010 x -- 3 9 0

WP -- Danielle Dock. LP -- Melanie Lacey. 3B -- Hannah Vinyard (K), Kaitlin Glastetter (K). 2B -- Dock (K). Multiple hits -- Kelly: Dock 2-3, Emily Grojean 2-3. Records -- Scott City 8-13, Kelly 18-9.