Through four innings of play, you wouldn’t have guessed Joplin would end up in the win column against Kickapoo in the home opener on Monday.
But when your offense can put up 13 runs in two innings, you’re never out of a game.
Trailing 4-1 with the Chiefs scoring a single tally in each of the first four innings, Joplin put on a furious rally with a seven-run fifth inning to take the lead before putting the game away with a six-run sixth for a 14-4 victory in six innings for the first game in front of the home at the JHS Athletic Complex.
“Early on, to be honest, I have to coach better,” Joplin coach Brenden Schneider said. “Kickapoo’s pitcher did a great job in the circle, credit to her for keeping them in that game. We just kind of won the war of attrition there. We did a good job of wearing her down and making adjustments. … With this team, you never really feel like you’re out of it because they always stay up and are always positive. … Once we figured out what we were seeing and made the adjustments, we exploded for some big innings.”
ON THE MOUND
Caelyn Bobski earned the complete-game win in the circle for Joplin after allowing four runs on four hits, two walks and three strikeouts in six innings.
“She struggled a little early on in a way, but she really didn’t throw a bad game at all,” Schneider said of his sophomore hurler. “It was just walks and hit-by-pitches. … She has come a long way and has worked really, really hard to show she can be a varsity pitcher in the COC, and that’s no easy task.”
Allison Scott took the loss after allowing eight runs on six hits, six walks and seven strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.
GAME ACTION
Kickapoo took the lead in the top of the first inning when second baseman Katie Vaughn brought shortstop Taryn Hagardt home with an RBI groundout for a 1-0 advantage.
The Chiefs pushed the lead to 2-0 with an RBI groundout from third baseman Mikayla Pilley in the top of the second.
Vaughn picked up another RBI in the top of the third inning on a groundout to score Hagardt once again, who walked with one out in the frame, for a 3-0 lead.
Joplin got on the scoreboard in the last of the third inning when third baseman Bailey Ledford reached on an infield hit to score catcher Lily Glover from third base to trim the Chiefs’ lead to 3-1. Glover led off the inning with a bunt hit.
Kickapoo responded in the next half inning when first baseman Kaylee Henderson singled to center to bring the runner on second base around to score for a 4-1 advantage.
Joplin cut the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth when courtesy runner Carlie Howard and shortstop Maria Loum both scored on a wild pitch to make the score 4-3.
The Eagles came all the way back to take the lead later in the frame when first baseman Jadyn Pankow ripped an opposite-field double to left-center field with one out to plate a pair of runs for a 5-4 lead.
“Jadyn is a hell of a player,” Schneider said. “There is no other way to say it. … She has the right mentality and is one of our best leaders.”
Right fielder Ashley Phillips came up with a clutch two-out, two-run single to right field later in the inning to extend the lead to 7-4. Left fielder Taryn Casey scored later in the inning on a wild pitch to wrap the production.
“You feel like you’re never out of a game,” Schneider said when asked about the strength of his offense. “We were the same last year. … I am just so happy our girls have taken to heart some of the mental stuff we talk about—we talk about never being helpless and always being hopeful. I think that has gone a long way with this group.”
Center fielder Abby Lowery brought home a run with an opposite-field single in the sixth inning ahead of a two-run homer to center field by Pankow for an 11-4 lead. A fourth run in the inning came home on a throwing error by the Chiefs. Loum ended the game two batters later with a two-run, two-out, single to up the middle to invoke the run-rule.
“The bottom of our order didn’t look great early, but then it was base hit, walk, base hit, base hit, walk,” Schneider said about the production from the bottom half of the lineup. “That’s what you need. When the bottom of your order is working, that is really what allows the top of your order to do what they’re supposed to do.”
AT THE PLATE
Pankow homered and doubled her way to two hits, a team-high four RBI and two runs scored to lead Joplin. Lowery and Ledford, who walked twice, each had two hits, an RBI and scored twice. Phillips had two hits, two RBI and scored a run.
Henderson had a double and an RBI, while Vaughn drove in two in a hitless afternoon for Kickapoo.
UP NEXT
Joplin (3-2) is at McDonald County (1-1) on Tuesday
