KILLIAN INSTINCT: Kennett headed back to softball final four after win over Clearwater

Kennett's Kyra Jaco, left, celebrates a leadoff triple next to Clearwater third baseman Jorja Eaton during the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinal Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in Piedmont, Mo.

DAR/Brian Rosener

PIEDMONT — Kennett is headed back to Killian.

Freshman pitcher Handley McAtee and the defense gave up one hit while the seniors got the offense off to a fast start Tuesday in a 12-2 win over Clearwater in the MSHSAA Class 2 quarterfinal.

Kyra Jaco led off with a triple, Audrey Phillips singled and Anelle Harris also tripled as Kennett scored three runs before recording an out.

“I was trying to go all the way,” said Jaco, who ended up circling the bases in the third.

“…We hit the ball really well today. We focused up yesterday at practice hitting the ball and played together as a team today.”

Kennett advances to the final four for a third straight season after placing third last year and second in 2019.

“I’m hungry for the gold,” Orf said. “I want to come back with my hand a little heavier. Hopefully it happens.”

Kennett (21-7) will face Diamond (27-3) at 11 a.m. Monday at the Killian Softball Complex in Springfield. It’s a rematch of the third-place game last year.

The other semifinal features Park Hills Central (17-6) and defending champion Skyline (21-4).

“Excited for them, they deserve it,” Kennett coach Logan Dollins said.

Clearwater finished 22-7, setting a program record for wins while claiming a sixth district title.

“I am definitely proud of all the girls and how much work they’ve put in and what we’ve accomplished as a team,” Clearwater senior Becca Brewington said. “I literally could not have asked for a better team. Just winning districts and getting our season win (total record), is just absolutely amazing.”

The Tigers answered Kennett’s four-run first inning with two runs in the top of the second.

“When we got those two runs back I thought it might be a little different but we could never slow them down,” Clearwater coach Shannon England said. “I thought we were back in it there if we could come out and held them, but they got the two back right away.”

Kennett loaded the bases with one out in the second but Brewington got a comebacker for a force out at the plate.

Orf followed with another hit up the middle, this one getting through to score two runs.

“We came into this game really prepared,” said Harris who ended it in the fifth with an RBI single down the left-field line.

Harris pounced on the first pitch she saw and took it to the base of the right-field fence for an RBI triple.

“We did a lot of (opposite-field) hitting yesterday and I think it paid off today,” Harris said. “The first three at-bats were really good.”

Jaco, who had a double and single along with her triple, scored four times. Phillips, Harris and senior cleanup hitter Olivia Orf each had two hits.

“I thought we had good approaches all day,” Dollins said. “And that’s something we’ve focused on all year long, getting pitches you want to hit and being aggressive on them.”

It started right off the bat.

“It seemed like the first three, four hitters just hit some bees, kind of shell-shocked us a little bit,” England said. “We knew they could hit but we didn’t see it in person.”

Orf drove in three runs and scored twice. Hadley Wilson, McAtee and Jetta Tillmon each drove in a run for Kennett.

Makinlee Keister had Clearwater’s lone hit.

“They just came out and hit better than us and we couldn’t find a way to get on,” said Brewington, who struck out three.

It wasn’t for a lack of trying.

McAtee struck out three with two coming against the first two hitters she faced. The Tigers grounded out eight times and hit into four flyouts. They also fouled off nine two-strike pitches.

Jorja Eaton drew a walk with one out in the second for Clearwater’s first baserunner. She went from first to third on a hit-and-run single by Keister up the middle and scored on a pitch in the dirt that got to the backstop.

Keister scored on a sacrifice fly caught by Kennett’s second baseman in foul ground just behind first base.

Kennett’s lead was cut to 4-2 but the it was back to four runs by the start of the third.

In the fourth, Kennett scored three more with four hits and a pair of errors after McAtee led off with a double. Tillmon’s one-out hit made it 7-2 before a throwing error put runners at second and third. Jaco plugged the left-field gap to score a run but the Tigers threw out another runner at the plate. Jaco attempted to take third on the throw home and came around to score on a throwing error.

“Defensively we made some mistakes and you can’t give a team like that extra freebies,” England said.

Clearwater, which came in averaging nearly nine runs per game, couldn’t keep pace. The Tigers only struck out once over the final four innings as McAtee retired 11 of 12.

“Our pitcher did great, I was really proud of Handley,” Harris said. “She’s a freshman and she really handled the pressure really well.”

The Tigers had scored at least six runs in all but seven games this spring and were 21-1 when they did.

It was the final game for seniors Brewington, second basemen Tiffany Williams and Lydia Mays.

“My three seniors, we’re going to miss them big time,” England said. “Those seniors led us to a place where we can build for the next year.”