Senior Day: Lady Mules tame tigers

By D’COURTLAND CHRISTIAN

Assistant Sports Editor

It was an emotional day for the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules softball team and their families as they took a moment to celebrate the seniors.

Maggie King, Kennedy Zgaynor, Heaven Werkmeister, Ashtyn Reese and manager Katy Cram were honored with a special ceremony during senior day as they prepared to play against the Cape Central Lady Tigers on Thursday.

After a slow start, the Lady Mules executed enough runs to pull away from the Lady Tigers to get a 10-1 victory at home.

“It felt amazing to get the win for senior day,” Zgaynor said. “We all played together, and overall, it’s a good win for us as we get closer to districts. I was pretty emotional before the game, but I was happy to have my family there with me for support.”

Reese said it felt good to get the win because they haven’t won many games this season. She said it was a bittersweet moment, but It meant a lot to her that everyone was here to support all of the seniors.

With both teams coming off a loss, getting a win was a top priority, with the district playoffs quickly approaching. The Lady Mules entered the matchup 6-10 and wanted to add another game to the win column.

After a few scoreless innings, the Lady Mules started to cook in the bottom of the third as Zgaynor connected with a fly ball hit to right field for an inside-the-park home run to take a 3-0 lead. The Lady Tigers would get across the plate for their only run of the game after capitalizing on an error from the Lady Mules.

The Lady Mules would begin to find their groove late in the fifth with two base hits, which granted them a comfortable 7-1 lead. Reese kicked off the run with a single ground ball hit past second base to bring in a run and a ground hit from sophomore Molly Eason to bring in another.

The game would continue to go in the Lady Mules’ favor as they landed more hits for the next few innings to seal the win.

Head Lady Mules softball coach Aaron Duncan said it was an emotional day for all the players, but they were able to pull it together to get the victory.

“It was an emotional game at the beginning, but then they settled in and took care of business,” Duncan said. “I like how we started hitting today. We played a complete game, and once Tylar Brookreson got everything started for us from the plate, everybody else just followed her lead. We had a few kids step up by connecting with some great hits, but it was a good win.”

Kennedy Zgaynor connected with a fly ball to right field for an inside-the-park home run.DAR/D'COURTLAND CHRISTIAN

Zgaynor drove in four runs on three hits to lead the Lady Mules from the plate. Zgaynor hit an inside-the-park home run in the third inning, scoring two runs and tripled in the sixth inning, scoring two.

Addison Valenzuela earned the win for the Lady Mules. The righty allowed five hits and one run (zero earned) over seven innings, striking out seven and walking three.

Poplar Bluff tallied 11 hits in the game. Elizabeth Blancett, Reese and Tylar Brookreson each collected multiple hits.

Duncan said it meant a lot for the team to walk away with a win while playing through many emotions, and he credited them for blocking everything out to compete.

“I’m just glad for them because they’re really good kids,” he said. “They just come out here and work as hard as they can every day, and they lead by example. As a coach, you can’t ask for anything better. They’re just great role models for student-athletes.”