WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
A sound that is just a bit softer than cannon fire is ringing through the halls at Blue Springs High School.
Because of the rain outside, the Blue Springs softball team has been forced to practice inside.
While their teammates are taking their hacks in the batting cages, located behind the north and south bleachers in the main gymnasium, pitcher Kelsey Kessler (29-0) and senior all-state catcher Amanda Self are fine tuning the freshman sensation’s arm in the small gym.
Their conversation is loose and lively as Kessler delivers noisy strike, after strike after strike.
The 30-0 Wildcats will meet 28-3 Webb City at 3 p.m. Friday in the semifinals of the Class 4 Missouri State High School Softball Championships at Heritage Park in St. Joseph, and Kessler will be attempting to pick up her second win this season over Webb City.
The two teams met in the championship game of the Joplin Tournament, with the Wildcats claiming a 5-2 victory (it was 0-0 after seven innings, and the game was wrapped up via international rules where a runner is placed on second base with no outs).
“To be honest with you, I’d rather face a team I know nothing about,” said Kessler, who has eight no-hitters and three perfect games this season. “I remember that Webb City had a very good pitcher, who was also their best hitter. They’re going to be tough, very tough.”
But if Kessler was battling nerves, it wasn’t apparent.
She was excited about dominating some other opponents – freshman classmates in a badminton tournament.
“I don’t think you get a big trophy or a ring for winning a badminton tournament,” Self joked.
When one pitch didn’t meet Self’s expectations, she said, “Come on, that one’s out of the park!”
Kessler didn’t skip a beat and replied, “Yeah, unless you’re up.”
They go together like peanut butter and jelly or Batman and Robin.
“Someday, I’m going to tell my kids I caught Kelsey,” Self said earlier this season. “I’ve caught some very special pitchers at Blue Springs, but she’s the one I’m going to be telling everyone about.”
Kessler feels the same way about her catcher and the heart and soul of the team.
“Being a freshman, I’m so lucky to have a catcher like Amanda,” Kessler said. “When the team went to state last year (and finished third) I was there. I was in the eighth grade, and I was thinking what a great catcher Amanda was, and how I’d like to pitch to her. And she didn’t even know who I was.”
When she heard that comment, Self said, “You were there last year? Maybe we can get the job done this year.”
While the kid on the mound is the center of the Wildcats’ universe, coach Roger Lower knows that nothing short of a complete team effort will result in his third state championship.
“I have a good feeling about this team,” said Lower, who led the Wildcats to state titles in 1996 and 1999. “I’m going to hate it when this season is over – even if we win state – because these kids make every day fun. I love to be around them. I love to go to tournaments and have people at the hotel or restaurant come up and say, ‘What a great group of kids,’ or something like, ‘You’re welcome back anytime.’ They’re special.
“And it’s going to take a special effort to get past Webb City. Their pitcher, Nicole Hudson, is going to Mizzou as a hitter, but she is a heck of a good pitcher. It was 0-0 after seven innings last time, and it could be 0-0 after seven Friday.”
Like all area coaches who are still playing outdoors, Lower has been keeping an eye on the weather Friday.
“They told me up in St. Joe they could get three inches of water and it’s supposed to be in the mid 40s on Friday,” he said. “Here we are, playing the biggest game of the season, and it could be in mud in rain and in 40-degree weather.
“We’re all hoping the weather gets better, because the kids from both teams deserve to have the best conditions.”
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WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
A sound that is just a bit softer than cannon fire is ringing through the halls at Blue Springs High School.
Because of the rain outside, the Blue Springs softball team has been forced to practice inside.
While their teammates are taking their hacks in the batting cages, located behind the north and south bleachers in the main gymnasium, pitcher Kelsey Kessler (29-0) and senior all-state catcher Amanda Self are fine tuning the freshman sensation’s arm in the small gym.
Their conversation is loose and lively as Kessler delivers noisy strike, after strike after strike.
The 30-0 Wildcats will meet 28-3 Webb City at 3 p.m. Friday in the semifinals of the Class 4 Missouri State High School Softball Championships at Heritage Park in St. Joseph, and Kessler will be attempting to pick up her second win this season over Webb City.
The two teams met in the championship game of the Joplin Tournament, with the Wildcats claiming a 5-2 victory (it was 0-0 after seven innings, and the game was wrapped up via international rules where a runner is placed on second base with no outs).
“To be honest with you, I’d rather face a team I know nothing about,” said Kessler, who has eight no-hitters and three perfect games this season. “I remember that Webb City had a very good pitcher, who was also their best hitter. They’re going to be tough, very tough.”
But if Kessler was battling nerves, it wasn’t apparent.
She was excited about dominating some other opponents – freshman classmates in a badminton tournament.
“I don’t think you get a big trophy or a ring for winning a badminton tournament,” Self joked.
When one pitch didn’t meet Self’s expectations, she said, “Come on, that one’s out of the park!”
Kessler didn’t skip a beat and replied, “Yeah, unless you’re up.”
They go together like peanut butter and jelly or Batman and Robin.
“Someday, I’m going to tell my kids I caught Kelsey,” Self said earlier this season. “I’ve caught some very special pitchers at Blue Springs, but she’s the one I’m going to be telling everyone about.”
Kessler feels the same way about her catcher and the heart and soul of the team.
“Being a freshman, I’m so lucky to have a catcher like Amanda,” Kessler said. “When the team went to state last year (and finished third) I was there. I was in the eighth grade, and I was thinking what a great catcher Amanda was, and how I’d like to pitch to her. And she didn’t even know who I was.”
When she heard that comment, Self said, “You were there last year? Maybe we can get the job done this year.”
While the kid on the mound is the center of the Wildcats’ universe, coach Roger Lower knows that nothing short of a complete team effort will result in his third state championship.
“I have a good feeling about this team,” said Lower, who led the Wildcats to state titles in 1996 and 1999. “I’m going to hate it when this season is over – even if we win state – because these kids make every day fun. I love to be around them. I love to go to tournaments and have people at the hotel or restaurant come up and say, ‘What a great group of kids,’ or something like, ‘You’re welcome back anytime.’ They’re special.
“And it’s going to take a special effort to get past Webb City. Their pitcher, Nicole Hudson, is going to Mizzou as a hitter, but she is a heck of a good pitcher. It was 0-0 after seven innings last time, and it could be 0-0 after seven Friday.”
Like all area coaches who are still playing outdoors, Lower has been keeping an eye on the weather Friday.
“They told me up in St. Joe they could get three inches of water and it’s supposed to be in the mid 40s on Friday,” he said. “Here we are, playing the biggest game of the season, and it could be in mud in rain and in 40-degree weather.
“We’re all hoping the weather gets better, because the kids from both teams deserve to have the best conditions.”
