Scott City softball falls in state semifinal

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Just minutes after the final out was recorded in her team's Class 1 state semifinal game Friday night, Scott City softball coach Kaitlin Zink reflected on what she could've done differently.

In hindsight, there's decisions she would have made that may have prevented her team's 4-1 loss to Kennett at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

"There's a lot of redos in that game that I wish I could redo and I know none of us should hold anything on our shoulders but, I mean, I messed up quite a few times and that just comes with being a new coach and being new out there," Zink said. "We win as a team and we lose as a team. I wish there was a lot of things I could go back and change but that's not the case."

Scott City shortstop Lyndsie Robert catches a Kennett pop-up to end the top of the seventh inning in the Class 1 state semifinal game Friday, May 16, 2014 in Poplar Bluff, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

The Rams took 1-0 lead in the first inning when right fielder Hailey Clayton hit a leadoff triple and scored on a wild pitch.

Center fielder Shelby Rhymer drew a walk and attempted to score when catcher Macy Hall doubled to left center but Rhymer was thrown out at home. Two strikeouts ended the inning and stranded Hall.

The Indians tied it up in the third when shortstop Logan Vaughan beat the throw on a two-out infield single and scored on third baseman Kelsey Washburn's double.

One of Zink's redo moments came in the fifth when second baseman Bella Bowers singled to start the inning, bringing Clayton to the plate.

"I'm always big on sacrifice bunts whenever you have runners in position," Zink said. "And whenever I had Hailey Clayton up and Bella Bowers on first -- Hailey's just been crushing the ball and part of me was just, 'Let her hit.' It was a 1-1 game and after that I knew I should have got the sac bunt down but I knew with her bat as hot as it was I just wanted to take a chance on it. It came back and ended up biting us in the butt, but that's just the chances we'll have to take."

Clayton, who went 2 for 4 in the game, flied out, and Hall hit a two-out single before Bowers was caught stealing to end the inning.

Kennett scored the go-ahead run in the sixth. Catcher Hannah Criswell doubled to lead off the inning and went to third on a groundout.

With two outs, the Rams attempted to get Criswell out at third by gambling with a throw to second. Kennett's Jacqueline Lockhert, who was on first, broke for second on the play and Bowers' throw to get her out was off the mark, allowing Criswell to score.

"We were hoping with that throw to second that the girl on third would come off a bit and we could throw her out at third," Zink said. "She didn't and whenever our infield yelled at Bella [Bowers] to throw it then she kind of made a bad throw and then our shortstop had to go after it. That's not at all what we wanted. That's not what we planned for. I mean, we were ready to give up second base because we didn't want to give up third. That's what kind of gets that bad ball rolling."

Kennett's Anna Wheeler reaches first base as the throw gets past Scott City first baseman Elizabeth Hensley, during the seventh inning in the Class 1 state semifinal game Friday, May 16, 2014 in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Wheeler reached third base on the throwing error. (Fred Lynch)

Lockhert advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a base hit to make it 3-1.

The Indians added a run in the seventh after leadoff batter Anna Wheeler reached third on a throwing error by the third baseman.

"I didn't really know what to expect," Scott City pitcher Becky Burger said of Kennett. "I had heard several things about the slapper that leads off for them and I had heard she's fast. I'd heard that pretty much through their whole lineup they could all hit, but I hadn't seen them yet so I was coming in a little bit blind, kind of nervous because I didn't know what to expect."

The Rams threatened in the bottom of the seventh and had back-to-back one-out singles from Clayton and Rhymer, but Kennett pitcher Shayla Jansson struck out the next two batters to secure the victory.

"I think personally that's probably the first pitcher that I've seen with that slow of a changeup and that wide of a variety of pitches," Burger said. "She made sure to work me in and out and there was a curve in there every now and then, and that changeup -- that changeup got me.

"Coach always tells us, 'Bat, ball, hit,' because we're overthinking it, and I was thinking about, 'Oh, this is state. Oh, this is a big game. Oh, that's a really weird pitch. Oh, well, this, this, this.' I wasn't thinking about just hitting the ball."

The Rams fell to 17-6 while Kennett improved to 24-2.

"I think we were really excited to be here and we were ready to play, but it's just those little mistakes that wind up adding up to be bigger," Clayton said.

Kennett will face Crest Ridge in the state championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Three Rivers Community College. Scott City and Mt. Vernon will meet in the third-place game at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Kennett 001 002 1 -- 4 7 1

Scott City 100 000 0 -- 1 8 4

WP -- Shayla Jansson. LP -- Becky Burger. 3B -- Hailey Clayton (SC). 2B -- Logan Vaughan (K), Kelsey Washburn (K), Hannah Criswell (K), Macy Hall (SC). Multiple hits -- Scott City: Clayton 2-4, Hall 2-4; Kennett: Vaughan 3-4.