Providing her own support

After suffering a tough-luck 1-0 loss Tuesday night, Blue Springs South pitcher Mariah Glasscock took matters into her own hands Wednesday.
With South tied 1-1 with Smithville, Glasscock came up in the bottom of the seventh with two on and two outs.
She belted the first pitch she saw over the shortstop’s head to drive in Kaitlin Schaberg with the game-winning run for a 2-1 victory.
The win puts South in the championship game of the second-place bracket against Liberty at 5:30 p.m. today at Adair Park Field No. 3.
“I was trying not to think about (the win),” Glasscock said of her at-bat. “If I put too much pressure on myself I freak out. I just try to be nice and easy.”
Glasscock was anything but nice on the mound – striking out 13 Warriors and allowing only two hits. She has 25 strikeouts in her two starts in the tournament.
“I was feeling all right,” she said. “I would like the control to be a little better. I do feel I am throwing well for the beginning of the season. Hopefully I’ll get better as I go.”
South coach Vickie Brummel said she was thrilled to see Glasscock win the game for the Jaguars (3-1).
“I loved seeing her get the winning RBI,” she said. “She was pitching a great game. It’s fun to see that.”
South fell behind 1-0 in the third inning after Michelle Stevenson drove in Ellen Kali, who had doubled earlier in the inning.
South tied the game in the fourth, when Tiffany Murdock scored on a wild pitch.
The Jaguars had a chance to go up early – loading the bases with one out in the first inning. However, South made two straight outs and was unable to score.
“It’s not that frustrating,” said Glasscock, who has watched her team score two runs combined in her two starts, as opposed to the 15 scored in the other two games. “You play seven innings. Eventually it’s going to come around. We have a good lineup up and down.”
While the Jags struggled in the second game, everything seemed to go their way in the first game of the night, beating St. Joseph Central 5-1.
RBI singles by Sierra Glasscock and Schaberg helped the Jags score three in the second inning. They added single runs in the third and sixth for the win. Sierra Glasscock had two hits, as did Kelsey Dean. Schaberg finished with three hits, including a double.
Dean and Schaberg are freshmen, while Sierra Glasscock is a sophomore.
“Early in the season is huge for these freshmen and any of the underclassmen,” Brummel said. “Early-season success can be huge for their confidence.”
And the two wins may not have been the best news of the night.
Catcher Logan Spaw – who injured her thumb against Staley Tuesday night – was in the dugout with her thumb wrapped Wednesday. She didn’t play against Central, but came in to bat twice against Smithville, popping up both times.
“The fact that she jammed me inside twice didn’t help,” Spaw said. “I let go of the bat too early.”
But Spaw said her X-rays came back negative, and she expects to return to the lineup full-time soon.
“It feels good,” she said. “I should be back next week. It’s just a bone bruise.”
Spaw said she was excited with how Sierra Glasscock played in her absence.
“I’m very proud of her,” Spaw said. “It’s nice to have someone who can come on and do just as good as you can. I trust her and know she will do exactly what I can do.”