Monett shows improvement despite 11-1 setback to McDonald County

By Jared Lankford [email protected]

The final score may not have shown it, but Monett softball coach Kaesha George saw signs of progress from her Lady Cubs.

McDonald County collected 15 hits and extended its winning streak to seven games with an 11-1 victory over Monett on Sept. 22, but George said the Lady Cubs played several solid innings against a potent Lady Mustang lineup.

“We’re trying to focus on the positives here,” George said. “I thought that they put at least four good innings up there. I think I would even maybe give them five. Only two errors is a huge positive that I want to take away from this game.”

McDonald County finished with 11 runs on 15 hits and no errors, while Monett scored one run on four hits and committed two errors.

Dakota O’Brien earned the win in the circle for McDonald County, while Kyra Garner took the loss for Monett.

The Lady Cubs had opportunities to put pressure on McDonald County early, including loading the bases with two outs in the first inning, but could not produce the timely hit.

Monett later put two runners aboard with one out but again came away without a big inning.

Those missed opportunities highlighted an area George wants to see improve as the Lady Cubs move closer to district play — competitive at-bats.

“A big thing that we just talked about is competitive at-bats,” George said. “Just stepping in the box, having an approach and being competitive.”

George specifically pointed to called third strikes with runners aboard as something Monett cannot afford.

“The backwards K’s with bases loaded, I think we had two with runners on tonight, and that just really hurts us,” George said. “If you strike out looking the first at-bat, we’re making an adjustment for the next at-bat and we’re ready to go.”

McDonald County also made adjustments as the game progressed. George said the Lady Mustangs became increasingly comfortable after seeing Monett’s pitching multiple times through the lineup.

“I knew third, fourth time they’re seeing the same pitcher, the ball is going to look a lot bigger to them,” George said. “They’re just making adjustments like we should be making adjustments, too.”

For Monett, the challenge is putting together a complete game.

The Lady Cubs have shown they can play quality softball for stretches, but George said big innings have repeatedly proved costly.

“Those bigger innings are what’s hurting us in most games that I’m seeing,” George said. “We’ve just got to figure out how to get three outs. They give us three outs, we’ve got to get three outs.”

One encouraging sign against McDonald County was Monett’s defense. The Lady Cubs committed just two errors, an improvement George hopes will continue as a young pitching staff develops.

Monett is relying on a sophomore and freshman in the circle, with George regularly using both pitchers.

“I think they’ve both done a phenomenal job this year,” George said. “They’ve just got to keep working, and they’re young, so they’re going to get there.”

The loss was Monett’s fifth consecutive and dropped the Lady Cubs to 2-12 overall and 1-4 in Big 8 Conference play. McDonald County improved to 14-5 overall and 4-1 in conference action.

Despite the struggles, George believes Monett is a much different team than it was at the beginning of the season.

The task now is turning that improvement into results.

“We’ve just got to keep chipping away,” George said. “Those are just the little things, just executing the little things. We’re going to get there.”

Monett returns home to face Branson before traveling to Seneca for another Big 8 Conference matchup.