Junior pitcher Jill McDaniel dazzled in the circle as Joplin defeated Cassville 2-0 in the Eagles’ home opener on Thursday at the JHS Athletic Complex.
“She commanded the zone and threw strikes,” Joplin coach Manny Flores said. “I said from the beginning that when she does that, she is one of the toughest pitchers in our area to face. She showed that today with a one-hit shutout and 10 Ks. She did exactly what we needed her to do.”
McDaniel allowed just one hit over seven innings to earn the complete-game shutout win. She walked just one batter and struck out 10 on 79 pitches.
“It felt pretty good,” McDaniel said about her outing. “I knew my defense had my back and I was feeling good today. … (My changeup) was on. My curveball was rough, which is usually the first pitch I go to, but my changeup was on.”
With the win, Joplin moves to 5-1 to start the season.
“They are starting to gel together as a team,” Flores said. “The scary part is I don’t think we’ve played our best softball yet. We have a great blend of returning experience … and we have a bunch of freshmen out here just competing and having fun.”
Alyssa Whisenhunt took the loss in the circle after allowing two runs on six hits, a walk and a strikeout in six innings for the Wildcats.
Neither team mustered much offense through the first two and a half innings of play but in the bottom of the third inning, the Eagles found a little one-out momentum. Freshman Abby Lowery started things off with a bunt for a hit before sophomore Bailey Ledford followed with a sharp single to left field. Freshman Jadyn Pankow made it three straight hits with a single to right, scoring Lowery to give Joplin a 1-0 advantage.
“It was the second time through the lineup and I think we did a good job of adjusting right there,” Flores said. “We just had a couple of baserunning miscues that took us out a couple of innings, but we did what we needed to do that inning to scratch one across.”
Joplin added to its lead an inning later when freshman Libby Munn singled to right field with a pair of runners on to plate a run and make the score 2-0.
“Our freshmen are not scared of the big moment right now,” Flores said. “They are being aggressive early and making plays for us defensively. Offensively, they’re doing the little things right and it speaks volume to the work they are putting in.”
Munn had two hits and an RBI to lead the Eagles at the plate, while Pankow had a hit and an RBI. Lowery had a hit and scored a run. Ledford and Maria Loum also recorded base hits in the win.
Cassville loaded the bases on an error, a catcher’s interference and a walk in the top of the fifth before McDaniel induced a groundout to get out of the jam. Ashlynn Bryan had the lone hit for the Wildcats, a one-out double down the third-base line in the top of the sixth inning. McDaniel escaped with a lineout and a strikeout looking to end the threat.
“She is a captain for a reason,” Flores said. “She has done things the right way and put herself in a spot to have success. She has earned that. She stepped up and did exactly what we needed her to do today.”
“I just kept the mindset of my defense having my back,” McDaniel said about getting out of the late inning traffic.
Joplin hosts the Paige Neal/Christina Freeman Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The Eagles kick off action with a matchup against Kickapoo at 10 a.m. on Friday.
“It’s a great tournament and we have a lot of good teams coming in,” Flores said. “It’s one of my favorite tournaments just because of the good softball that will be played this weekend.”
