Softball returning to the Final Four

Softball returning to the Final Four

Patterson Fallis, Managing Editor

The Blue Springs South Softball team has made it to a second consecutive state Final Four and eyeing another shot at the state championship.

The 23-9 Jags have been on a roll as of late. They cruised in the district round beating Columbia Rock Bridge and Columbia Hickman, allowing one total run combined in two games. They played Camdenton at home in the sectional round and demolished the Lakers by a final score of 21-5 with Senior catcher Haley Woolf hitting three homeruns and driving in eight.

The quarterfinal game pitted the Jags against Joplin powerhouse Webb City. The game went to 10 innings ending on Junior shortstop Abby Sciara’s walk-off two run homerun. The Jags take on the 26-2 Staley Falcons today at 1 p.m. at Missouri State in Springfield.

Senior third baseman Kailee Odegard expressed her excitement to have another chance at winning the State Championship.

“It is super exciting to have another shot. We took second place last year which left all of us hungry to win it all. To have this opportunity for a second time in two years is something that I am extremely grateful for,” Odegard said.

 Senior leadership has been a big part of what took this team to yet another deep playoff run. Senior pitcher Sydney Righi talked about the leadership aspect that she has taken on as a senior leader.

“It has been really cool to come up through the Blue Springs South softball program,” Righi said, “I played C team freshman year and even thought about quitting softball at one point. I’ve grown as a player in this program and becoming a leader this year has helped me grow as a person as well. We have a great group of girls on this team and I will definitely miss playing with them next year.”

Senior catcher Haley Woolf discussed how much this year meant to her after falling just short of the state title last year.

“We had extremely high expectations coming off of a second place finish last year at state. We knew we would be good this year and I am so happy that this team has lived up to the expectations we had for ourselves. I have had so much fun this year and I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Woolf said.

Head Coach Kristi Williams talked about her favorite part about coaching this group of girls.

“This team has a lot of fight and a lot of resiliency. They have a never-say-die attitude which gives us a chance to win a lot of softball games,” Williams said.