Lady Mustangs Go 3-2 At Joplin Tourney

RICK PECK MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County’s Coley Ickes beats a throw to the plate for one of the Lady Mustangs 11 runs in the Lady Mustangs 11-1 win Aug. 28 over Neosho at MCHS.
RICK PECK MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS McDonald County’s Coley Ickes beats a throw to the plate for one of the Lady Mustangs 11 runs in the Lady Mustangs 11-1 win Aug. 28 over Neosho at MCHS.

A 3-2 record at last weekend's Paige Neal/Christina Freeman Softball Tournament in Joplin was only good enough for ninth place in the 12-team field for the McDonald County Lady Mustangs.

"We got off to a rough start Friday," said coach Tray Shaddox of his team's 9-6 loss to Neosho to open the tourney. "We bounced back and played pretty good against Seneca and then lost to a powerhouse in Blue Springs."

McDonald County's 1-2 record in pool play regulated the Lady Mustangs to the Bronze Bracket of the championship round. The top four teams from pool play competed Gold Bracket for the tournament championship followed by the next four teams in Silver Bracket.

But once in bracket play, the Lady Mustangs defeated Joplin 13-9 and then handed Nevada an 8-2 loss for McDonald County's second win over the Lady Tigers this season.

"We played pretty well Saturday," Shaddox said. "We had a couple of let downs, but we managed to overcome them and picked up a pair of nice wins."

Against Joplin, McDonald County combined to score six runs in the fifth and sixth innings to pull out a 13-9 win. Coley Ickes had a home run and single to drive in three runs and Hanna Schmit had three hits to lead McDonald County's 16-hit attack. Chayleigh McCool, Chloe Anderson, Kyla Buchanan and Cloee Helm each added a pair of hits. McCool, Helm and Rachel Brown had two RBIs each.

Cheyanne Chappie started and went into the fourth before Paige Jones picked up the win by working the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Ickes got the first two outs of the seventh before Chappie came back to get the last out for the save.

In the ninth place game, McDonald County scored six runs in the top of the eighth inning to claim an 8-2 win over Nevada. Jones went the distance, allowing two runs on seven hits.

Helm had three hits and Ickes two to lead McDonald County while Brown and Anderson added RBI singles.

Neosho avenged a Thursday night loss to McDonald County by scoring six runs in the seventh inning to pull out a 9-6 win in tourney opener Friday morning.

Chappie went six and a third innings for the loss before Jones got the final two outs. Helm had two singles to lead the offense.

McDonald County bounced back with a 3-1 win over Seneca. Jones went the distance allowing just one run on five hits. Schmit had an RBI single and Anderson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Helm had a pair of singles while Jones helped her own cause with a double.

Against Blue Springs, the teams were tied 3-3 after three innings, but Blue Springs scored seven unanswered runs for a 10-3 win. Chappie worked into the fifth before Jones finished. Schmit had an RBI double and Brown an RBI single to pace the offense.

Staley defeated Blue Springs 4-3 for the tournament title.

McDonald County improves to 5-2 heading into Tuesday's game against Carthage. The Lady Mustangs host Nixa in a rare Friday contest. Game time is 5 p.m.

Regular Season

McDonald County handed Neosho an 11-1 five inning loss Aug. 28 at McDonald County High School. Chappie allowed one run on five hits for the win.

McDonald County took a 3-0 lead in the third on a walk to Chappie, followed by singles by Ickes, Schmit and Brown and a sacrifice fly by McCool.

The Lady Mustangs broke the game open in the fourth, scoring six runs on six hits. The big blow in the inning was a bases loaded double by McCool that drove in three runs.

Ickes, Brown, Buchanan, Helm and Courtnie Welch all had two hits to lead the Lady Mustangs 14-hit attack.

Sports on 09/04/2014