Reagan Hockett’s effort on the basepaths prevented a Smith-Cotton shutout Wednesday at Vansell Field at Liberty Park.
She singled, stole second and scored from third on a McKenna Woolery groundout. Woolery’s RBI was the only run for Lady Tigers softball in a 6-1 loss to Boonville in Sedalia.
Sarah Bergman, pitching for S-C, avoided a big inning but allowed a run in five of seven innings. She limited damage in the seventh, when an error in the outfield loaded the bases with no outs. Bergman induced three groundouts for two runs to complete the outing.
Nursing a shutout, Boonville pitcher Peyton Kempf caught a couple breaks.
She defended her face from a line drive in the second inning and caught the ball for out No. 2. Kempf struck out the next batter to end the inning. Lady Pirate left fielder Leigha Vollmer later performed a circus catch — stopping a high line drive with her glove and catching the rebound — to preserve Kempf’s scoreless streak.
Smith-Cotton head coach Janeil Draffen said the team successfully executed recently-practiced drills, but still seeks consistency.
“We’re so close on defense, getting things worked out, that eventually we’re going to get on the same page with offense and defense,” Draffen said. “When we start playing, all-in-all and as a whole, we have to stay up on that.”
Lady Tigers catcher Macey Hoover threw out a baserunner at second and assisted on a rundown at third. Draffen said she was pleased with Hoover’s development.
“Hoover ended up throwing a pretty quick runner out,” Draffen said. “We worked on her quickness yesterday so, to me, that was big play.”
Boonville scored in the first on a one-out Kenley Fuemmeier double. Zoe Coffelt added an RBI single in the third. Kempf and Kishanda Jones added runs in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.
Smith-Cotton (1-6) faces Warrensburg on the road Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
