Kelly softball to use experience in playoff contention

A young but seasoned Kelly softball team knows its way to Springfield, Mo.

Kelly, which has just one senior among its seven returning starters from last year's final four team, can travel half the distance today when it plays host to East Carter in a 4 p.m. sectional game.

It will be one of two games in the area as Oran (12-4) hosts Dora (25-2) in a Class 1 sectional contest.

The Hawks finished third in Class 2 last season and are familiar with East Carter (10-9), which claimed the title in District 2 with a 4-1 win over Twin Rivers.

Kelly (17-7) breezed past the Redbirds in the second game of the season, posting a 14-1 victory in five innings.

"Within a two-month time, your players are going to improve," Kelly coach Rhonda Ratledge said. "They won their district, so you can't take them lightly."

Kelly entered district play with a battle-tested 15-7 record. While the Hawks had lost seven games, they all came against Class 3 and 4 opponents. They maintained their unbeaten status against smaller class schools with a 3-0 win over Portageville in the District 1 semifinals and an 11-1 five-inning rout of St. Vincent in the final.

The Hawks look to use the same approach that has proved successful over the years.

"We want to make sure we jump on them the first couple of innings and try to score some runs and put a little bit of pressure on the other team to make errors early in the game," Ratledge said. "Hopefully we can do that the next few games."

Sophomore Alexis Dock (10-3) will get the start today. Dock has struck out 94 batters in 89 innings and has assembled a 1.57 ERA. She also leads the team in every major offensive category with a .514 batting average, 23 RBIs and three HRs.

Dock is among three players hitting above .400 in the starting lineup, joined by juniors Samantha Ratledge (.417) and Savannah Ashley (.406).

Oran has been an infrequent participant at the sectional level. The Eagles claimed their third district title with an 8-1 victory over Naylor, which had beaten them in the final the previous three years.

Oran, whose only other district titles came in 2007 and 2008, returned all but one player from last year's district runner-up team.

The Eagles feature junior Aubrianna Jones in the circle. She shut out Neelyville in the district semifinals, then allowed just one run to Naylor in the final. She posted seven strikeouts in each of the games.

Dora waltzed to the District 2 title with a pair of run-rule shutouts. Dora clobbered Bakersfield 15-0 in the semifinals and then punched its ticket to the sectional with a 10-0 rout of Thayer. The district title was the third straight for Dora, which fell to Naylor in the sectional round the last two years.

The winners of today's sectional games advance to Saturday's quarterfinals.