When Kelsey Kessler woke up Saturday morning, the Blue Springs High School freshman had a feeling that it was going to be a special day.
Not only was it special, it was perfect.
Kessler turned in the performance of a lifetime Saturday morning at Adair Park where she struck out 18 of 21 Kearney batters, did not allow a ball out of the infield and led the undefeated Wildcats to a 2-0 Class 4 state quarterfinal victory.
There was a weak groundout to first base and two infield pop-ups as Kessler improved to 28-0, pitched her third perfect game and eighth no-hitter.
“I was feeling it today,” Kessler said. “When I woke up I just felt like today was going to be a very good day. I knew I was going to have to be on today because I’ve pitched against (Kearney starter Katherine Barrow) in summer ball, and I know she’s a very good pitcher.”
Blue Springs (29-0) will play in the state semifinals against Webb City (28-3) at 3 p.m. Friday in St. Joseph. The Wildcats opponent has not been determined.
Kessler’s continued dominance of opposing hitters left her coach in awe.
“I’ve never seen anything like it – from a freshman, a senior … I don’t care what grade they’re in – that was pretty remarkable,” Blue Springs coach Roger Lower said.
“When she’s on the mound, I just go over and sit on the bucket of balls and let Denise (Parker, assistant coach) wake me up when the game is over saying, “We won – go shake their hands.’ ”
Lower paused for a moment and added, “You want to talk about a special team with great senior leadership. We made a couple of mistakes on the base paths in the game, and I usually have the girls run afterwards.
“I didn’t tell them to run today – but look out in right field.”
The Wildcats were running laps.
“We don’t need Coach to tell us to run laps,” said senior leader Amanda Self, the Wildcats catcher who hit a 210-foot triple off the top of the fence in center field to help Blue Springs score its first run. “We’re going to take care of business – before and after games.”
When asked about Kessler’s performance, Self said, “I have had the great honor of catching some very good pitchers at Blue Springs High School, but she is special – very, very special. Five years from now, I’m going to be telling everyone I know that I used to be her catcher.”
Kessler struck out the side in the first inning on 14 pitches.
She also struck out the side in the third, fourth and sixth innings.
Kearney’s Barrow struck out 17 in a 1-0 victory over Oak Park earlier this week, setting up Saturday’s showdown. But Kessler got the better of the Bulldogs, who finished 23-6.
“I knew it was going to be a pitchers’ duel, and it was,” Kessler said. “Amanda did a great job keeping me calm and the girls scored a couple of runs. The run in the seventh was huge.”
Self tripled and scored on Lauren Eisenreich’s groundout to second base in the fourth. The Wildcats added an insurance run in the top of the seventh. Bria Taylor singled, was sacrificed to second by Ashtin Stephens and scored on Mackenzie Sykes’ RBI single to help ensure Blue Springs’ second straight trip the state semifinals. The Wildcats finished third in the state last year after a heartbreaking loss to eventual champion Lafayette-Wildwood in the semifinals.
“This is a special team,” Lower said. “If I just stay out of their way, this could be a pretty special season.”
CLASS 4 STATE QUARTERFINAL LINESCORE
At Adair Park
BLUE SPRINGS 2, KEARNEY 0
Blue Springs 000 100 1 — 2 9 0
Kearney 000 000 0 — 0 0 0
Kessler and Self; Barrow and Dortch. W-Kessler (28-0). L-Dortch.
MISSOURI STATE HIGH SCHOOL PLAYOFFS RESULTS & PAIRINGS
CLASS 4
STATE QUARTERFINALS
Saturday, Oct. 18
Blue Springs 2, Kearney 0
Webb City 8, Columbia Hickman 0
Francis Howell Central 5, Lafayette-Wildwood 4
Parkway South 8, Oakville 4 (8 innings)
STATE SEMIFINALS
At Heritage Park, St. Joseph
2 p.m. — Parkway South (24-4) vs. Francis Howell Central (19-5), field 3
3 p.m. — Blue Springs (29-0) vs. Webb City (28-3), field 4
STATE FINALS
At Heritage Park, St. Joseph
Championship
5 p.m. — Semifinal winners, field 4
Third-Place Game
6 p.m. — Semifinal losers, field 4
