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Shawnee, Kan. —
A pair of Blue Springs South players came up with heady plays – one in the field, the other on the basepaths – in Monday’s Mo-Kan All-Star Softball Series at the Shawnee Mission School District Softball Complex to help Missouri draw a little closer in the 12-year series.
First, it was centerfielder Brooke Parker squeezing a laser on the run off the bat of Olathe East’s Kiki Stokes for the final out in Missouri’s 3-1 win in Game 2. The play left the tying runs on base and kept Missouri alive after falling 4-1 in the first game.
Then it was Kaitlin Schaberg dashing from second to home with the go-ahead run on Lee’s Summit North’s Haley Kinnison’s grounder to third in the fourth inning. Kansas threatened an inning later, putting the tying run on third, but Missouri dodged more trouble and escaped with a 3-2 win in the decisive five-inning contest.
“It was just one of those things, it either happens for you or it doesn’t,” Schaberg said of her risky sprint home which prompted a leaping fist-pump from retiring South coach Vickie Brummel, who was coaching third base. “But you’ve got to go for it, and fortunately we came out with it this time.”
The win pulls Missouri to within 7-5 in the all-time series. And in Blue Springs coach Roger Lower’s opinion, the victory was well-earned.
“This was a classy bunch of kids,” said Lower, who served as Missouri’s head coach. “From the time I called them on the phone the very first day I had their names I was impressed with the way they handled themselves. And you could see they did a great job staying with it and working hard.”
Missouri fell behind 3-0 in the third inning of the first game and never recovered despite plating a run in the sixth on Schaberg’s sacrifice.
Belton’s Kelsey Schifferdecker picked up the win in Game 2 while Kinnison relieved Grain Valley’s Sydney Fairfield in the second of the final game and finished with five strikeouts while earning the decision. Kinnison was named team MVP while Stokes garnered those honors for Kansas after reaching base a combined six times in nine trips to the plate, scoring three runs and driving in another.
“All these girls in here have very, very competitive drives,” Schaberg said. “That’s what’s great about playing with them is that they’re going to do everything they can to win, but also go out and have a good time.”
Blue Springs’ Kristen Heil also appeared in two of the games and stroked a single in Game 3.
A pair of Blue Springs South players came up with heady plays – one in the field, the other on the basepaths – in Monday’s Mo-Kan All-Star Softball Series at the Shawnee Mission School District Softball Complex to help Missouri draw a little closer in the 12-year series.
First, it was centerfielder Brooke Parker squeezing a laser on the run off the bat of Olathe East’s Kiki Stokes for the final out in Missouri’s 3-1 win in Game 2. The play left the tying runs on base and kept Missouri alive after falling 4-1 in the first game.
Then it was Kaitlin Schaberg dashing from second to home with the go-ahead run on Lee’s Summit North’s Haley Kinnison’s grounder to third in the fourth inning. Kansas threatened an inning later, putting the tying run on third, but Missouri dodged more trouble and escaped with a 3-2 win in the decisive five-inning contest.
“It was just one of those things, it either happens for you or it doesn’t,” Schaberg said of her risky sprint home which prompted a leaping fist-pump from retiring South coach Vickie Brummel, who was coaching third base. “But you’ve got to go for it, and fortunately we came out with it this time.”
The win pulls Missouri to within 7-5 in the all-time series. And in Blue Springs coach Roger Lower’s opinion, the victory was well-earned.
“This was a classy bunch of kids,” said Lower, who served as Missouri’s head coach. “From the time I called them on the phone the very first day I had their names I was impressed with the way they handled themselves. And you could see they did a great job staying with it and working hard.”
Missouri fell behind 3-0 in the third inning of the first game and never recovered despite plating a run in the sixth on Schaberg’s sacrifice.
Belton’s Kelsey Schifferdecker picked up the win in Game 2 while Kinnison relieved Grain Valley’s Sydney Fairfield in the second of the final game and finished with five strikeouts while earning the decision. Kinnison was named team MVP while Stokes garnered those honors for Kansas after reaching base a combined six times in nine trips to the plate, scoring three runs and driving in another.
“All these girls in here have very, very competitive drives,” Schaberg said. “That’s what’s great about playing with them is that they’re going to do everything they can to win, but also go out and have a good time.”
Blue Springs’ Kristen Heil also appeared in two of the games and stroked a single in Game 3.
