Pitching prevails as the Indians earn chance to play rival for title

The Kennett Indians came into their semifinal game of the Bootheel conference tournament against Portageville well-rested as they received a first-round bye due to earning the number-one seed in the tourney. As for Portageville, they were coming off of an extra-inning win against South Pem in the first round. With Kennett having that day off and Portageville showing signs of fatigue early in the game, the Indians were able to take advantage of their bye and the Portageville fatigue to earn their spot in the championship game with an 8 to 1 win.

It was the pitching of Kennett's Laurel Jones that shut down the Bulldogs offense. Jones, who had a perfect game through three innings, pitched all seven innings for the Indians, striking out 11 batters and allowing only one run on three hits.

"I thought Laurel did a great job on the mound. She had great control of her pitches and kept batters off balance, which is something she's done all season. She had a lot of confidence in her defense and that allowed her to just get on the mound and do her thing," said Kennett head coach Laurie Vaughan in regards to Jones's performance in the semifinals.

Not only was Jones on top of her game, the Indians' offense was in full force for the entire ballgame. It was a wild pitch that allowed Kennett's Allyson Luce to score the first run of the game. The Indians added the second run of the game off an RBI single by Haley Morrow. It was in the third inning when Ciara Dewrock and Taylor Wake scored the third and fourth runs, respectfully, of the game for the Indians.

Kennett would add one more run in the fourth off an RBI single by Jones, but it was in the sixth that Indians sealed the victory. Jones, Anna McMahon, and Elizabeth Hively would all contribute to the Indians scoring efforts with RBI singles in the bottom of the sixth.

Although Portageville was able to put up one run in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough as they were held to only four base runners in the entire ballgame.

It was the overall effort of her team that impressed Coach Vaughan. "I thought they played extremely well today. They came out right from the very beginning of the game and started hitting the ball and forcing (Portageville) to make their own mistakes and we capitalized on those mistakes."

With Kennett now taking on Senath-Hornersville in the conference championship, emotions will run high as both teams have been rivals for years. It's those emotions that Vaughan believes that her girls will have to overcome and just play the game. "Our team is excited to be in the championship and to play Senath. Although we've already played them twice, the emotions of the rivalry will be just as noticeable. We just have to come out with our game faces on and just play our game...that's all we can do." The first pitch time for today's championship is set for 4:30 p.m.