BLUE SPRINGS – There’s an argument to be made that the two best teams in Class 2A reside in the north with East Webster and East Union and neither team was ready to budge in Monday’s decisive game three of the North State Championship.
Both teams ran through an undefeated district schedule and had winning streaks that stretched beyond 15 games going into this series but they had ended each other’s long run with a win each in the first two games.
First year Lady Wolverine coach John Harris challenged his team to punch back after facing adversity just as his opponent did in game two and the EWHS did that over and over on Monday. The final blow came in the seventh inning when Peyton Flora cleared the bases with a two out triple and paved the way for a 9-5 triumph that sent the team to the first state championship series since 2016.
“We found out what we were made of,” Harris said. “We came out and played sloppy, but we kept fighting. That made it even better. They had the momentum and were at home and we could have rolled over and quit.”
Flora came through with some big time hits but it didn’t start off spectacularly for the longtime short stop.
The first at bat was a strikeout for Flora and she grounded out to the pitcher in the next at bat. But she stayed within herself and came through with back-to-back clutch hits with two outs. The first came on a two-run double in the fourth to get a lead and the second was a triple to extend a one run lead with the bases loaded in the seventh inning in what would be the game-winning frame for the Lady Wolverines.
“I just knew that if I dropped my head down we couldn’t get to where we wanted to be. I just knew that I was made for that moment and that’s what got me through that moment,” Flora said. “I was just thinking that this is what we’ve been waiting for all season. That one run wasn’t going to do it because it was a very good hitting team so I had confidence in myself.”
It was an absolute duel between two of the best teams in the classification from start to finish and neither team wanted to let the game get out of hand. It wasn’t until the third inning that the first team blinked when Emma Jennings sent a ball up the middle for a two-out RBI single to take a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Wolverines had a couple of frames which they would like to have back after scoring runs, however. In the bottom of the third, three-straight bunts reached and the last two were errors putting Liz Massey in a pickle. Massey pitched extremely well in that jam giving up one hit that would score two runs but limiting the damage.
After Nashlynn Vickers’ beat out an infield single for an RBI in the fourth and Flora delivered the double to make it 4-2, EWHS’ defense bit them again. Massey hit a batter and another error on a bunt opened the door. A one out walk and wild pitch followed by a sac bunt and a dropped pop fly with two outs had East Union up 5-4.
Massey responded as a veteran should. She retired eight-straight batters into the seventh before leaving two one out hits stranded to end the game.
“I had faith in my team that they would hit and get the runs that we needed to score and that they would make the plays regardless of what happened in those innings,” Massey said. “It’s taken years of work. We worked really hard this season and we really just barreled and decided we wanted it this year.”
The Lady Wolverines did the little things right down the stretch and had clutch at bats all night long. Hallie Beth Reed delivered two in a row in the fifth and seventh and neither were hits. She tied the game on a sac bunt in the fifth and gave the team a lead for good with a groundout after Katelee Box’s leadoff double.
Three-straight batters reached with two outs at the bottom of the order and gave way for Flora’s triple that dropped on a diving catch in left field.
Box, like Flora, finished 2-for-4 and overcame two tough at bats early to put together back-to-back big hits. The team only had six hits in the game but had great plate appearances against one of the state’s best pitching teams.
The win got the Lady Wolverines to 27-5 on the year and it’s no coincidence that their best season since 2016 will have them back in the state championship for the first since then. EWHS will start the series in Hattiesburg on the campus of Southern Miss starting Wednesday at 1 p.m. Game two will be Friday at 3 p.m. with a game three if needed at a time to be announced.
Flora and her teammates have been weathered with one of the toughest schedules in the classification. They are ready for this moment.
“I think we’re really prepared. We’ve worked hard and haven’t just played average teams – we’ve played teams that have been better than us but we’ve fought back. Coach Harris said that this isn’t easy and practice hasn’t been easy. Nothing has been handed to us,” Flora said. “I think we’ve worked hard all season and knew where we wanted to go so I think we’re pretty prepared and I can’t wait to go play.”
