WEBB CITY, Mo. — Moments after delivering a clutch, game-ending blast, and with her teammates waiting to celebrate her arrival at home plate, Peyton Hawkins had one recurring thought running through her mind as she quickly rounded the bases.
“This is crazy,” Hawkins recalled thinking again and again.
A junior shortstop who hits at the top of the order, Hawkins launched a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Webb City Cardinals a thrilling 1-0 victory over the McDonald County Mustangs on Monday in a non-conference showdown between the Joplin-area’s top two prep softball squads.
The game, a classic pitcher’s duel that had a postseason feel, was still scoreless when Hawkins stepped into the batter’s box with one out in the bottom half of the seventh.
On a 2-1 count, Hawkins connected for a game-ending home run, with the ball soaring over the fence in center field. That set off a celebration for the hosts.
“It was crazy and I was freaking out,” Hawkins said. “It was great. Everyone was screaming. It felt great.”
Before Hawkins’ at-bat, the game had featured only three singles. Hawkins said she knew she needed to be patient at the plate and wait for a pitch to drive against McDonald County ace Madeline McCall.
“I just wanted to get my pitch,” Hawkins said. “I was just looking for a pitch I could hit. She was dominating us. We had to get on top.”
Webb City coach Shauna Friend was definitely pleased with her team’s performance and noted the game’s importance to postseason seeding.
“It was a very exciting ending to a really good game,” Friend said. “We knew this game would be a battle. We knew it would be a battle for the No. 1 seed. It was two great pitchers battling it out. It came down to Peyton getting ahold of that one pitch. We figured it would be a pitching battle and it was. You couldn’t ask for a better game.”
With the win, the Cardinals improved to 22-2 and locked up the No. 1 seed for the Class 4 District 6 tournament.
The Mustangs fell to 17-3 and should be the No. 2 seed in the district tournament.
“We’ve had a good season,” Mustangs coach Heath Alumbaugh said. “We’re young…we’ve got some freshmen in the lineup. We just want to continue to see improvements. And to get where we want to be, we want to see high-level opponents like that (Webb City).”
Of course, there’s a chance these two teams could meet again with the season on the line at next week’s district tourney.
“Absolutely we may see them again,” Alumbaugh said. “We’re looking forward to it, and I’m sure they are too.”
To say Webb City’s Haidyn Berry and McDonald County’s McCall were both stellar in the circle would be an understatement.
A senior, Berry earned the win after another outstanding performance. Last year’s Central Ozark Conference Player of the Year, Berry gave up just one hit, walked none and struck out 11 in the complete-game effort. She tossed just 74 pitches and had six 1-2-3 innings.
“You couldn’t ask for more out of Haidyn in the circle and KG (Kaylyn Gilbert) behind the plate,” Friend said. “They kept their batters off-balance. And our defense was flawless.”
The Webb City defense did not commit an error.
“I know my teammates have my back and defense wins ballgames,” Berry said.
A junior, McCall surrendered just three hits and four walks while striking out 13. She threw 111 pitches.
Alumbaugh expected a pitcher’s duel.
“We know what McCall is capable of and we know what Berry is capable of,” Alumbaugh said. “Two pitchers came in and did exactly what they were supposed to do. It was a great game. And anytime Mac and Webb get together you know there are playoff implications on the line.”
“You have to give kudos to both pitchers,” Friend said. “They both did an outstanding job in the circle. They did their jobs.”
Adasyn Leach’s single in the third inning accounted for McDonald County’s lone hit. Leach went to second on Mariana Salas’ sacrifice bunt, but Berry then struck out Carlee Cooper to end the threat.
The Mustangs didn’t have a baserunner the rest of the way, although Nevaeh Dodson hit a long fly ball to center in the sixth that Alyssa Jennings hauled in.
The Cardinals received one hit apiece from Emma Welch, Berry and Hawkins. Berry was intentionally walked twice.
Webb City stranded two in the second, then left the bases loaded in the third and stranded two more in the fifth, as McCall maneuvered out of trouble each time.
“We needed some timely hits there and didn’t get them,” Friend noted.
But Hawkins’ blast made sure the game did not go into extra innings.
“Peyton got ahold of one good pitch,” Friend said. “That’s all it took.”
For the Cardinals, it was a win to remember.
“It felt like a dogfight and that’s what we want,” Berry said. “It was nuts. Everybody was jumping up and down and I love that feeling. It’s one of the best feelings ever.”
Webb City 1, McDonald County 0
MC 000 000 0—0 1 1
WC 000 000 1— 1 3 0
