Stoufer gets 9 Ks in victory at home

By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

Behind the arm of senior Aubrey Stoufer, the Cassville softball team held Seneca scoreless in the Class 3, District 6 championship, claiming its second district title in school history with a 4-0 victory.

“I feel over the moon,” said Stoufer, who had nine strikeouts in the contest. “This is what we’ve all been wanting. As a senior class, this was our goal — to get to the district championship and win it.”

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third, when Lili Naugle drove in Tomi Blankenship after she was walked and stole second and third. Madi Yockey then repeated the Naugle hit and drove her in for a 2-0 lead.

After a pitching change for Seneca in the bottom of the fifth, Sturgell hit a ball to center field that dropped over the Lady Indian’s head, allowing Sturgell to triple. She then stole home on a passed ball. Bri Still provided the final RBI, a bouncer in the infield misplayed by Seneca, allowing Stoufer to cross the plate and provide the 4-0 scoreline.

The Lady Indians singled to start the top of the sixth, but a pop fly and two strikeouts later, the Lady Wildcats were celebrating victory.

Multiple times in the contest, Stoufer was in a jam with one or two runners on, but the senior managed a way out each time.

“I was just trusting my pitches,” she said. “I mean, I’ve done it for over, I don’t know how many years now, but I’m just trusting my pitches and trusting my teammates to back me up and throw out the plays.”

Jordan Savage, in his second year as head coach and leading the team into as many district title games, said the win was a sweet one.

“It feels unbelievable,” he said. “Hats off to the girls, and hats off to my coaching staff. We worked every single day on what we needed to win, and they just kept fighting. They proved every single day why we were here. It’s an unbelievable group. They’re very resilient. I’m so proud of them and what they’ve done — all the credit goes to them.”

Making the title even sweeter is getting the goose egg after losing last year’s championship to Nevada 7-6 in 13 innings, missing out on three opportunities to close the door on the Lady Tigers.

“That that was something that we constantly worked on and constantly talked about,” Savage said. “The girls were hungry to get back, so it’s something that they have in the back of their minds, over and over, and what pushed them to work as hard as they did.”

As for Stoufer, Savage said it was an A-plus performance from the senior.

“She may let up a hit here or there, but she has the mentality where it’s not going to affect her,” Savage said. “She’s going to continue to work the zone. She’s always going to dominate the inside part of the plate with the screwball, which is what she did today. That’s something that we work on over and over. It’s something she executed today. So, it was an A-plus performance by her, just by keeping her head when runners got on, and not let anyone have too big of an inning.”

At 17-10, the Lady Wildcats head into state quarterfinal play against the District 5 champion, Southern Boone (21-12), which beat California 4-1 on Monday. That state quarterfinal matchup will be on Oct. 25, time to be determined, hosted by Southern Boone High School in Ashland, a 3-1/2 hour drive from Cassville.