WEBB CITY, Mo. — The highly motivated McDonald County Mustangs wasted little time in taking control of Thursday’s district title game.
A four-run first inning propelled second-seeded McDonald County past top-seeded Nevada 8-3 in the championship game of the Class 4 District 7 softball tournament at the Webb City athletic complex.
“It was absolutely huge to take control of the game early,” Mustangs coach Heath Alumbaugh said. “We wanted to attack early. Putting up four runs in the first inning allowed us to control the tempo of the game. That was huge.”
The Mustangs entered the night with plenty of extra motivation.
For starters, the team fell short in a district title game the past two seasons.
That’s not all. Nevada defeated Mac County 4-2 earlier this season in Big 8 play.
“Nevada’s a great team,” Alumbaugh said. “I don’t want to take away anything from them. They got us earlier this season. And from that day on, that’s been a motivating factor in practice. Our girls have worn that one pretty hard. They got back to work. They knew there was a chance we’d get a shot at Nevada again. Tonight was that shot.”
It’s McDonald County’s first district championship since 2019.
“This is huge,” Alumbaugh said. “That’s the expectation in our program and that’s the community’s expectation for our program. To be able to do it this year, after being upset in the last two, it’s the monkey off our back. It was just a great job by our girls to get it done.”
In Mac County’s big first inning, leadoff batter Nevaeh Dodson reached on an error and came home on Carlee Cooper’s RBI single to right.
Next, Jacie Frencken launched a two-run home run to right-center before cleanup hitter Katelynn Townsend followed with a homer to center for a four-run cushion.
“They’re a good team and they grabbed the momentum from the start,” Nevada coach Danny Penn said of the Mustangs. “Giving up four runs in the first, especially when it started with a defensive error, it was hard for us to catch our breath. Credit to McDonald County. We made some mental mistakes that allowed innings to be prolonged and they took advantage of that.”
The Mustangs, who were in a district title game for the fifth straight season, added a single tally in the second when Cooper charged home from third after a dropped third strike.
Down 5-0, Nevada plated three runs in the third on back-to-back doubles from Kirstin Buck and Ella Heathman.
“I’m proud of how we responded in the third,” Penn said. “We made it a game, but they were the better team today.”
With their lead trimmed to two, the Mustangs responded immediately in the fourth. Reagan Myrick smacked a two-run single into left and later scored on an error for an 8-3 advantage.
“We’ve been preaching that there will be ups and downs,” Alumbaugh said. “When you’re down, you have to find a way to battle and get out of it. And you have to answer right back and our girls did that.”
A junior right-hander, Dodson earned the pitching victory. She struck out 11 and scattered seven hits.
“She’s a fierce competitor,” Alumbaugh said. “There’s no give in. She gave up some hard hit balls and some runs in the third, but then she put up zeros after that. That’s a competitor.”
Natalie Gillming, Cooper, Frencken, Townsend and Myrick all had two hits apiece for the Mustangs.
Peyton Eaton was charged with the loss. She allowed four earned runs on 11 hits and struck out nine. Caylee Holcomb had two hits for the Tigers, who were looking to repeat as district champs.
The Tigers end the season with a record of 24-12.
“This season was a gauntlet,” Penn said. “We played 36 games, which is a lot. It feels like it was a marathon. But we won 24 games, we won our conference and we were second in a very tough district. I’m proud of how hard these girls worked and competed all season long.”
McDonald County (23-9) meets the District 8 champion on Oct. 19 in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. The District 8 title game between Kearney and Platte County is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday.
