WEBB CITY, Mo. — Outstanding defense, a stellar pitching performance and just enough offense gave the Webb City Cardinals a signature win.
With a solid overall performance, Webb City edged Nixa 2-1 on Thursday in Central Ozark Conference softball action.
It’s safe to say the Cardinals were playing with some extra motivation following a disappointing 12-1 loss at Carthage on Tuesday.
“This is a huge win,” Cardinals coach Shauna Friend said. “We definitely needed that performance after the Carthage game. We needed to come back and play solid defense, which we did. We made some fantastic defensive plays. And Laney Taylor came out and threw a great game. It was just great to see us come out and respond like that after Tuesday’s game.”
The Cardinals improved to 3-1 in the Central Ozark Conference and 7-6 overall.
“I’m really proud of them because this is a big conference win,” Friend said. “I know they’re excited about this one, too.”
The COC clash was a classic pitcher’s duel between Webb City’s Taylor and Nixa’s Maddy Meierer.
The game was scoreless until the Cardinals broke through with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.
With one out, freshman catcher Liz Rhuems singled to right before freshman second baseman Lily Hall followed with a single to right, with Rhuems beating the throw to third on the play.
As Hall looked to advance on the basepaths, the Eagles threw to second, with the runner safe. As the Eagles held the ball, Rhuems then took off for home to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
“That was just heads-up baserunning,” Friend said. “Liz was being aggressive and that was great to see. It paid off.”
Hall, who made a diving stop in the field early in the game, advanced to third on a wild pitch before pinch runner Kyley Senter scored on Jensyn Pickett’s RBI groundout to right for a 2-0 cushion.
The Eagles cut their deficit in half in the sixth — and they nearly went ahead.
With one out, Paige Garetson and Phoebe Gardner hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners.
Next, Chloe Krans hit a fly ball to deep center field, and Webb City junior Dawsyn Decker made a crucial catch against the fence, robbing Krans of a go-ahead home run.
Garetson scored on the sacrifice fly to cut Webb City’s lead to 2-1 before Taylor retired the side.
“Dawsyn robbing that home run was huge,” Friend noted.
Nixa threatened in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Lauren Loney doubled and then took third on a wild pitch before Harper Jane-Simpson walked to put runners on first and third.
Webb City’s defense came through one final time, as junior first baseman Sydney Strickland hauled in Taylor Melton’s pop up near the screen in foul territory to secure the win.
A sophomore right-hander, Taylor earned the pitching victory. Taylor allowed just one run and scattered seven hits in the complete-game effort. She walked one and struck out one.
“She was hitting her spots,” Friend said. “She kept them off-balance. Her changeup was looking good. She had a good game.”
Rhuems had two of Webb City’s three hits.
“We didn’t hit, but we made things happen when we needed to,” Friend said. “Nixa out-hit us and they’re a good team. And Nixa’s pitcher Maddy is a top of the line pitcher in this conference.”
Nixa’s Meierer pitched well in defeat. She struck out 11, walked none and gave up just two runs on three hits. Garetson and Gardner had two hits apiece for Nixa (8-4, 1-3 COC).
Neither team made an error in the field in the game that took less than an hour and a half to complete.
Webb City will travel to this weekend’s Park Hill South Tournament in Kansas City.
The Cardinals will return to COC action on Tuesday at home against Neosho.
“Hopefully we can continue this trend,” Friend said.
FULL STATS: Webb City HS (webbcitycardinals.com)
