Young Jackson pitchers filling a void on the hill

The Jackson High School softball team, extremely inexperienced anyway, was hit with some major adversity before the 2013 season even started when ace senior pitcher Mallory Jones suffered a serious knee injury during summer competition.

With Jones likely lost for the entire year, the Indians have been looking for other hurlers to pick up the slack.

So far they have been successful in that endeavor, with junior Kelsie Meystedt and freshman Sophie Wunderlich both coming through with solid performances.

"We miss Mallory, but Sophie and Kelsie have both stepped up," senior catcher Melanie Dockins said.

Wunderlich stepped up in a big way Wednesday afternoon, firing a complete game and allowing no earned runs as visiting Jackson beat rival Central 6-2.

That avenged a 6-5 loss to the Tigers over the weekend at the Cor Jesu tournament in St. Louis.

"We came back knowing we had to get revenge," Dockins said.

Jackson improved to 4-3 while Central fell to 6-2.

ABOVE: Jackson’s Mallorie Maintz avoids the tag by Central third baseman Winnie Smee after getting caught in a rundown during the Indians’ 6-2 win Wednesday. TOP: Jackson’s Sophie Wunderlich scattered seven hits and allowed just two runs — none earned — to earn the victory. (Adam Vogler)

"It's always a good rivalry with Central," said first-year Jackson coach Ashley Litzelfelner, previously an assistant for the Indians. "They have a very strong team, a very strong offensive team."

Which made the performance of Wunderlich all the more impressive.

Jackson second baseman Emily Gartman throws out Central catcher Sarah Kitchen at first base. (Adam Vogler)

But Litzelfelner felt good about sending Wunderlich to the circle after she was solid in relief during the 6-5 loss to the Tigers over the weekend.

"We outscored them 5-2 in the last five innings with Sophie so I knew we had to pitch her today," Litzelfelner said. "She has a lot of movement on the ball and she knows how to pitch. It's really exciting to have a freshman come in and have the team trust her like that."

Wunderlich said she had a stress fracture in her back that limited her summer softball participation and she only recently returned to full strength.

Wunderlich allowed seven hits and did not walk a batter while striking out three.

"I actually did really good this weekend but I think this was my best game," Wunderlich said with a grin.

Central’s Brooke Anderson heads for home to score the Tigers’ first run in the fourth inning. (Adam Vogler)

Wunderlich -- whose aunt, Jackson graduate Alice Marler, is among the top hurlers in Southeast Missouri State softball history -- said she normally uses several pitches but primarily stayed with her fastball Wednesday.

"My fastball by far. That's what I was throwing. I just tried to throw as hard as I could," she said.

Wunderlich got the best of Central senior ace Kadie Orenstein, who also pitched all seven innings.

But Orenstein could hardly be faulted after she allowed just five hits and two earned runs while striking out five and walking one.

Central committed seven errors, five during a nightmarish top of the seventh inning when Jackson scored two big insurance runs to expand its 4-2 lead.

"We weren't really ready to play today," Central coach Amy Blattel said. "More importantly, we did not value the ball today. Give credit to Jackson. They did value the ball."

Blattel, whose squad is also young like Jackson's but returned most of its top players while the Indians graduated many of theirs, also credited Wunderlich.

"She did exactly what she had to do. She threw a good game," Blattel said. "We hit the ball hard at times, some right at them."

Jackson did commit four errors, but the Indians also turned in a handful of strong defensive plays, including a great catch by sophomore center fielder Megan Clippard that might have prevented a Central rally.

"She [Clippard] has come a long way this year," Litzelfelner said. "I'm very pleased. ... Defense is our main focus this year. We've worked constantly on defense."

Jackson scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Dockins and Central never caught up.

The Indians had three of their five hits during a two-run third inning that made it 3-0. Senior left fielder Taylor Bauknecht and sophomore first baseman Mallorie Maintz delivered RBI singles.

Jackson, nursing a 4-2 lead, took advantage of Central's five-error seventh inning -- including four straight errors following a leadoff out -- to go ahead 6-2.

"I thought we played really well. We came together as a team," Dockins said. "We have a very young team but we're doing well so far."

Dockins, one of Jackson's few returning regulars from last year, had two hits.

Junior catcher Sarah Kitchen led Central with two hits.

Jackson 102 001 2 -- 6 5 4

Central 000 101 0 -- 2 7 7

WP -- Sophie Wunderlich. LP -- Kadie Orenstein. Leading hitters -- Jackson: Melanie Dockins 2-3, Taylor Bauknecht 2 R, Kaci Walley 2 R, 2 SB. Central: Sarah Kitchen 2-4. Records -- Jackson 4-3, Central 6-2.