The 2017 McDonald County Lady Mustangs softball team has not missed a beat in picking up from last year's district championship season.
The Lady Mustangs scored five runs in the first inning of its season on the way to sweeping Nevada and East Newton in a three-team jamboree held Aug. 12 at MCHS.
McDonald County finished its first game with nine runs on 11 hits in four innings in its 9-1 win over Nevada.
Cloee Helm had three hits and Chloe Colvin and Leslie Yousey had two each to lead the Lady Mustangs' offense while Kylie Helm, Rita Santillan, Alexa Hopkins and Miryan Martinez added one hit each.
Santillan's two-run triple and RBI singles by Hopkins, Yousey and Martinez staked McDonald County to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning.
In the second, Kylie Helm doubled in two runs and scored on an error to extend the lead to 8-0 before Cloee Helm drove in the final run in the third inning with a two-out single.
Hopkins, a freshman right-hander, held Nevada to one unearned run on just one hit, an infield single in the third inning.
Against East Newton, McDonald County again pounded out 11 hits in four innings to beat the Lady Patriots 10-1.
McDonald County scored three runs in the first inning, two in the third and five in the fourth while East Newton scored its only run in the second inning.
Kylie Helm and Chloe Colvin each had three hits while Santillan, Alison Nicoletti, Emily Emmert, Kaylee Eberley and Jackie Grider had one each.
Hopkins allowed one run on two hits in two innings before Kaylee Cornell retired all six batters she faced in the final two innings.
"I thought it was a good day," said coach Skyler Rawlins. "I was very pleased with what I saw. Defensively we made some good plays and all of the routine plays. In the circle, Lex (Hopkins) threw a lot of strikes and Kaylee (Cornell) came in and did the same thing and our defense played well behind them. Usually the bats are behind the defense and pitching, but I thought we swung it well. You can't read a lot into a jamboree, so we will get back to work and get ready for the season."
McDonald County opens its season on Aug. 22 at Nevada before traveling to Neosho on Aug. 24 and to Joplin on Aug. 25-26 for the 13th Annual Paige Neal/Christian Freeman Softball Tournament.
Sports on 08/17/2017