Mt. Vernon downs Purdy in softball quarterfinal
May 15, 2019
Lee Stubblefield
On Friday night at Purdy, Mt. Vernon’s Kassidy Anderson clubbed a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to lead the Lady Mountaineers to a 2-0 win and pave the way to a berth in the MSHSAA state softball semifinals.
For a Lady Eagles team that seemed destined to move on after defeating Forsyth 3-0 in their sectional clash, Copperhead Road turned out to be a disappointing dead end.
A pitcher’s duel between Purdy’s Lauren Schallert and Mt. Vernon’s Katelyn Kotlarz produced six innings of scoring futility. The Lady Eagles wasted a golden opportunity in the bottom of the sixth inning. Purdy had the bases loaded with just one out, but stranded all three baserunners as Kotlarz pitched out of the jam.
A date with destiny
Then in the seventh inning, Mt. Vernon in general and Anderson in particular had a prom date with destiny.
Schallert gave up the dreaded leadoff walk to Raegan Prescott to open the top of the seventh, and Prescott gave way to a faster substitute runner, Emilee Smith.
Cue the walk up music for Anderson, who unloaded on a Schallert fastball to give Mt. Vernon a 2-0 lead.
But Purdy wasn’t done. In a last gasp reminiscent of the comeback against Crane in the district championship game, the Lady Eagles put the tying runs in scoring position with no outs when Dally Craig walked and Annabelle Bowman doubled.
But after Kotlarz rang up her ninth strikeout of the game, Craig was out trying to steal home on a wild pitch, and then Kinsley Mattingly’s pop fly became the final out.
Purdy’s stellar season ended with a 24-6 record.
Mt. Vernon improved to 21-9 and will face Kennett in a state semifinal on Friday, May 17 at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield at 5 p.m. Potosi and Lincoln meet in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.
Lee Stubblefield
On Friday night at Purdy, Mt. Vernon’s Kassidy Anderson clubbed a two-run homer in the top of the seventh inning to lead the Lady Mountaineers to a 2-0 win and pave the way to a berth in the MSHSAA state softball semifinals.
For a Lady Eagles team that seemed destined to move on after defeating Forsyth 3-0 in their sectional clash, Copperhead Road turned out to be a disappointing dead end.
A pitcher’s duel between Purdy’s Lauren Schallert and Mt. Vernon’s Katelyn Kotlarz produced six innings of scoring futility. The Lady Eagles wasted a golden opportunity in the bottom of the sixth inning. Purdy had the bases loaded with just one out, but stranded all three baserunners as Kotlarz pitched out of the jam.
A date with destiny
Then in the seventh inning, Mt. Vernon in general and Anderson in particular had a prom date with destiny.
Schallert gave up the dreaded leadoff walk to Raegan Prescott to open the top of the seventh, and Prescott gave way to a faster substitute runner, Emilee Smith.
Cue the walk up music for Anderson, who unloaded on a Schallert fastball to give Mt. Vernon a 2-0 lead.
But Purdy wasn’t done. In a last gasp reminiscent of the comeback against Crane in the district championship game, the Lady Eagles put the tying runs in scoring position with no outs when Dally Craig walked and Annabelle Bowman doubled.
But after Kotlarz rang up her ninth strikeout of the game, Craig was out trying to steal home on a wild pitch, and then Kinsley Mattingly’s pop fly became the final out.
Purdy’s stellar season ended with a 24-6 record.
Mt. Vernon improved to 21-9 and will face Kennett in a state semifinal on Friday, May 17 at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield at 5 p.m. Potosi and Lincoln meet in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.