KEARNEY, Mo. — The McDonald County Mustangs fell one win short of the Final Four.
Kearney defeated McDonald County 6-4 on Wednesday night in a quarterfinal contest of the MSHSAA Class 4 state softball tournament.
Kearney (24-8) will meet Warrenton (16-8) in the semifinals on Oct. 27 in Springfield.
McDonald County ends the season with a record of 23-10.
The visitors scored the game’s first three runs.
The Mustangs pushed across a single tally in the first inning, as junior shortstop Carlee Cooper doubled and later scored on Jacie Frencken’s RBI single into right field.
A junior third baseman, Frencken launched a two-run home run to center in the third inning to give the Mustangs a 3-0 cushion.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the bottom half of the third on Macelyn Morrow’s RBI single and a passed ball that allowed Morrow to charge home.
Kearney tied it up in the fourth after a double and a Mac County error.
Cooper blasted a solo home run to left-center in the fifth, giving the Mustangs a 4-3 lead.
But the Bulldogs answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, as Brooke Paalhar drove in the tying run with a single to left before Jadyn Barnes scored from third on a passed ball.
Kearney extended its lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth, as Ryleigh Van Emmerik smacked a run-scoring single up the middle.
The Mustangs put the tying runs on base in the seventh, but they were unable to score.
Nevaeh Dodson was charged with the loss. A junior who has been named the Big 8 Pitcher of the Year, Dodson allowed three earned runs on eight hits while striking out six in six innings.
Dodson, Cooper and Frencken had two hits apiece for the Mustangs’ six hits. Frencken, the Big 8 Player of the Year who drove in three runs, was intentionally walked in her final two at-bats.
Alyssa Quick started in the circle for Kearney, and she allowed four runs on five hits in five innings. Katelynn Landewee pitched the final two frames, allowing no runs on one hit.
McDonald County’s departing seniors are Alexis Abbott, Ashleigh Dornon, Reagan Myrick, Amanda Pacheco, Maggie Pratt and Analisa Ramirez.
