SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS: LADY TIGERS FALL JUST SHORT

HOUSE SPRINGS, Mo. -- When Cape Girardeau Central and Seckman squared off in a high school softball game on Sept. 26, the host Lady Tigers squeezed out a 1-0 victory.

So it figured that Wednesday's rematch, in a Class 4A sectional playoff contest, would feature another pitcher's duel, right?

Not hardly. This time, it was the teams' offenses that took center stage. And when the softballs had finished flying at Northwest High School, the Jaguars had claimed a wild 11-9 victory.

Seckman, a school in only its fourth year of existence that earlier this week won its first district title, moves into Saturday's state quarterfinals with a 21-8 record.

Central's impressive season ends at 21-7 after the Lady Tigers' furious late rally fell just short. But coach Amy Blattel, who joined her heart-broken players in shedding some tears after the game, had nothing but praise for her squad.

"I will never, ever fault my kids for heart," said Blattel, whose team very nearly wiped out an 11-4 deficit. "They gave every ounce they had. We had every chance to fold. They played their hearts out for seven innings."

Both coaches said an extremely tight strike zone had a lot to do with the fact the squads combined for 23 hits, virtually all of them coming against the pitchers who had dominated during that earlier contest.

"I know they didn't expect us to hit the ball like that and we didn't expect them to hit the ball like that," said Seckman coach Jerry Joyce. "It was crazy out there. But I think a lot of it had to do with the strike zone. Both pitchers had to bring it over the plate, and when they have to do that, that's what happens."

Said Blattel, who wanted to make it perfectly clear that she wasn't blaming the strike zone for the loss, "With a strike zone like that, the hitters can just sit on a pitch over the plate. But that's not why we lost. Seckman has a very good team and we just fell a little bit short."

Central ace Cassie Gross, who had no-hit Jackson during Monday's district title game and had blanked Seckman in the earlier meeting, was tagged for nine hits and eight runs (seven earned) in 4 1/3 innings. She walked one and did not strike out a batter as she suffered the loss.

Holly Schnurbusch relieved Gross and allowed three hits and three runs in 2 2/3 innings. She fanned one and walked two.

Seckman ace Jessi Roper, who had hurled against Central in that earlier contest, went all seven innings, allowing 11 hits and eight earned runs. She fanned three and walked six.

Roper, Ashley Bolen, Julie Wesselschmidt, Kelsay Harmon and Rachel Adams all had two of Seckman's 12 hits.

Freshman Megan McDonald had three of Central's 11 hits and she also drove in five runs. Ashlie Voerg and Trisha Klipfel added two hits apiece.

Seckman scored the game's first run in the top of the second inning, but Central got four in the third, taking advantage of four walks by Roper. McDonald had the big blow of the frame, a two-run single.

Based on what happened in the earlier game, it looked like a 4-1 lead was mighty big -- but not on this day.

Seckman came back with four in the fourth after the inning began harmlessly enough with the first two batters being retired. But the Jaguars got four straight hits, with an error thrown in, to go up 5-4.

When the Jaguars exploded for six runs -- on six hits -- in the fifth and knocked out Gross to open up an 11-4 lead, it looked like Seckman would cruise to victory.

But Central would not go down without a huge fight. The Lady Tigers got three runs in the fifth to pull within 11-7, the key blow being McDonald's two-run triple. And Central would have had at least another tally -- and maybe more -- but the umpires ruled that Schnurbusch missed third base on what appeared to be an RBI single by Katie Dougherty. That play ended the inning.

"I didn't see it (Schnurbusch missing third), but both umpires agreed on it and that's all I can go by," Blattel said.

Still, the Lady Tigers had plenty of life left in them. After failing to score in the sixth and facing their last chance in the seventh, Voerg led off with a double, Jessica McDonald reached on an error and Megan McDonald drilled her third hit, an RBI single that made it 11-8.

Schnurbusch then walked to load the bases with nobody out, but Roper was able to retire the next three batters -- a run scored on one of the outs -- to nail down the victory.

"We had a great season," said Blattel. "The girls just did an outstanding job. I could not ask for anything more."

Added Blattel with a smile, "Even at the end, I thought we were going to win. But it just didn't fall our way."