Division champs
JCC beats Fairmont to clinch Small School title
Jackson County Central captured sole possession of the Big South Conference Small School softball title with a 13-1 win over Fairmont at Cardinal Park in Fairmont on Tuesday.
The Huskies finish division play with a 13-1 record. The Cardinals are 10-3 with one game remaining. JCC is 17-2 overall, while Fairmont is 12-7.
Jackson County Central will host Large School champion New Ulm in the conference championship game at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Kinley VanDeVere tripled to lead off the game for the Huskies and she scored when Mady Wachal followed with a single. Fairmont pulled even in the bottom of the first with one run on one hit and three walks.
Neither team scored in the second inning, but JCC was in control after that. The Huskies scored once in each of the third and fourth innings, three in the fifth and sixth in the seventh.
Hadley Wachal was the winning pitcher, allowing four hits, walking three and striking out 15. The three walks came in a stretch of five batters in the first inning.
“The first inning was kind of a struggle,” Hadley said. “I couldn’t really seem to hit the strike zone, but it was okay. I got after it as I went along.”
Hadley said she was able to settle in as the game went on. And 12 hits including four extra-base hits from the offense didn’t hurt.
“I feel like as I go, I’m more in the groove and just can get going,” she commented. “The hits helped a lot. Our energy got better as the game went on, which was great.”
JCC coach Morgan Christopher said Hadley’s first inning was uncharacteristic of the junior.
“She had one inning that wasn’t her best,” Christopher said. “We don’t see that a lot from her, but it was fun to watch her work out of that and watch our team work out of that.
“Hadley becomes Hadley and she just mows people down left and right, We know what to expect when Hadley pitches. We don’t take it for granted. She’s fun to watch in the circle.”
Even though the first inning wasn’t her best, Hadley did have two strikeouts in the inning and fanned at least two batters in every inning except the second inning, when she did have one. Hadley struck out the side in the third and fifth innings.
“There wasn’t a lot of plays that we could make behind Hadley,” commented Christopher. “But when we had the opportunity, we made the play that’s what we have to do.”
Kinley VanDeVere and Brielle Tufvesson had three hits apiece for JCC.
Miley VanDeVere had two hits and drove in five runs as she lined a three-run home run to left field in the fifth inning and had a two-run single in the seventh. Mady Wachal also had two hits including a triple.
Lauren Johnson had a bunt single to lead off the fourth inning that drew a compliment from the base umpire when she reached first. Johnson stole second, went to third on an error and scored on Braelyn Boogerd’s RBI single.
“We’ve worked a lot on being better offensively as a team,” Christopher said. “That means hitting the ball hard, as well as getting bunts down and we did both of those things really well.”
Jackson County Central will host Wabasso at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
