WEBB CITY, Mo. — It was quite a Senior Night for Webb City’s Haidyn Berry, who struck out a career-high 17 batters while homering at the plate as the Cardinals defeated Carl Junction 8-0 on Tuesday.
“Haidyn is a true leader on the field both in the circle and at the plate,” Webb City coach Shauna Friend said. “She has a lot of respect for her teammates, and they have a lot of respect for her. She really dominated in the circle tonight.”
Joining Berry from the diamond in the Senior Night ceremonies were Alyssa Jennings and Bri Batson. Webb City softball managers Kylee Bard and Ashlynn Boyd were also recognized.
“Alyssa is crucial in our outfield,” Friend continued. “She is always upbeat and a good teammate. She is just a lot of fun to be around. Bri took on a new position this year to play third and she has done a great job. I am really proud of her for taking that on and doing her best. As a group, they are just great people.
“And I can’t forget my two managers who are seniors because they run this show. They are just phenomenal. All five of them do a great job of being role models to the younger players. I couldn’t be prouder.”
The Cardinals move to 15-1, 5-0 COC on the season, while Carl Junction falls to 4-7.
“We definitely haven’t peaked yet, which is a good thing,” Friend said. “We are off to a great start. The girls are hitting the ball hard and swinging the bat well. Defensively, we are improving every game. We are in a really good position right now.”
“Haidyn is a really good pitcher, and we knew that coming in,” Carl Junction coach Zak Petty said. “I thought we fought well at the beginning. … We struck out 17 times, and that can’t happen if you want to be successful. We need to have a little better approach at the plate.”
After two scoreless innings, Carl Junction’s Bryn Neria led off the top of the third with a bunt single. Sammie Sims followed with a single falling just past the second base bag, with Neria taking third and Sims moving to second on the throw to third to put two runners in scoring position. Kalyssa Hagston followed by reaching first on a fielder’s choice bunt to load the bases with no outs.
Berry settled in to strike out the next three batters she faced in order to keep the game scoreless.
“That is just her attitude, honestly,” Friend said. “She is just a competitor. She was just not letting that run score, and that is just how she is.”
“We just needed to realize the situation and adjust our approach,” Petty said. “When we get into two-strike counts, we don’t adjust a lot, and that is something that we need to learn to do. We need to put the ball in play and see what happens. Strikeouts are too easy on the defense. That is something they will learn from and bounce back. I am pretty confident in that.”
In the bottom half of the inning, Webb City took the momentum after Peyton Hawkins ripped a ball over the wall in center for a two-run home run, scoring Hannah Wells, who walked to lead off the inning. Two batters later, with two outs, Berry yanked a ball on a line to left of the wall for a solo home run to put the Cardinals on top 3-0.
“We definitely needed a spark there, and Peyton gave it to us,” Friend said. “It was a slow start in the first two innings. We weren’t finding the pitches we needed to be swinging at. The second time through (the order), that turned around and Peyton was the key there to give everybody some relief, allowing them to relax at the plate and just sit back and wait on a pitch to drive.”
Webb City added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Batson started the scoring with a sacrifice bunt to score Shea’lee Key to make the score 4-0. Hawkins followed with her second two-run homer of the game, this time to left-center, to push the lead to 6-0.
Jennings got in on the long-ball fun, hitting a two-run home run to right-center in the bottom of the sixth inning to wrap the scoring.
“The great thing about this offense is there is potential for a long ball all the way through the lineup,” Friend said. “That is definitely a strong trait of this offense, being able to come up with some RBIs at any given moment.”
Berry earned the win after scattering four hits without allowing a walking and striking out 17 in a complete-game effort.
“This was one of her best games in the circle for sure,” Friend said. “I am very pleased with her performance.”
Saedra Allen took the loss after allowing eight runs, seven earned, on eight hits, seven walks and seven strikeouts.
“Saedra has turned into just a really good pitcher,” Petty said. “We have 100 percent confidence in her when she is out there. … There is a reason why she pitches these games against district and conference opponents.”
Hawkins led Webb City with two hits, two runs scored and four RBI, while Jennings had two hits, scored once and drove in a run.
Sims, Hagston, Allison Plumlee and Neria all recorded hits for Carl Junction.
UP NEXT
Webb City hosts Nixa at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Carl Junction hosts Neosho at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
