Believe.
That's the message Jefferson City head coach Lisa Dey relayed to her team prior to Thursday night's Class 4 sectional game against Blue Springs.
And even though the Lady Wildcats entered the contest with one loss on the season, the Lady Jays never stopped believing in themselves.
Alyssa Schulte allowed four hits in seven innings and Hannah Hirschvogel drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh as Jefferson City held off Blue Springs 1-0 at the American Legion Post 5 Sports Complex.
"We just had to trust ourselves," Schulte said. "We had to believe that we could do it. We had the capability, and we showed it tonight."
Blue Springs (29-2) claimed a 15-0 win in five innings against the Lady Jays (18-7) on Sept. 26 in the Kewpie Classic, but that loss wasn't on Jefferson City's radar.
"If you believe, anything can happen," freshman shortstop Alex Gilliland said. "I believed, I knew we have the talent to do anything."
With runners on first and second and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Gilliland backhanded a ball in the hole and recorded the force out at third to end the game and send Jefferson City to the state quarterfinals.
"There was no way that run was going to score," Gilliland said. "When the ball was hit I was like, "OK, I've got to field this cleanly and get that out.'"
Schulte struck out five and walked one to earn the complete-game victory, while improving to 11-5 on the season and lowering her ERA to 2.54.
"She threw a great game - a great game against a great ballteam," Dey said.
Schulte, who did not pitch against the Lady Wildcats in the team's first meeting, didn't allow a runner past second base, while stranding eight Blue Springs runners.
"I just had to have confidence in my own ability and focus on every pitch," she said. "I took a lot of deep breaths, that's for sure."
Jefferson City didn't have a runner advance past second base against Blue Springs starter Alexis Reid - until the seventh inning.
Brooke Rozier led off the frame with a bloop single and Darby Brundage laid down a sacrifice bunt to put the senior catcher in scoring position.
"We all know what Brooke has the potential to do," Dey said. "She gets a bloop hit, and then against a pitcher like (Reid), it's not easy to put a bunt down. Darby puts one down and moves her over to second. That's huge."
Dey opted to bring in sophomore Ashton Glass as a courtesy runner for Rozier, and Hirschvogel followed with a two-out single to right for the go-ahead run.
That's all the support Schulte needed.
"I knew that runner had to score and I said to myself, "I'm going to hit this ball,' and I did," Hirschvogel said. "As soon as the ball hit the bat, it was just a great feeling."
Blue Springs didn't go down without a fight.
Morgan McMahan reached on an error to lead off the bottom of the seventh and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Schulte struck out the next batter on four pitches before issuing an intentional walk to Madison Sykes, the Lady Wildcats leadoff hitter who had two singles in her previous three at-bats.
Sydne Brashear followed with a hard-hit ball between shortstop and third base, but Gilliland was able to get to it on the edge of the outfield grass for the final out.
"I don't think a lot of people thought we could win the game," Dey said. "As I told the girls, I've been doing this a long time. That's probably one of the better games I've been involved in ... what a great game."
Jefferson City only had three hits - the first coming on a two-out single by Darby Brundage in the top of the fourth - but the Lady Jays' defense made up for the lack of offense.
Katie Tambke flashed the leather on three different occasions, but the most important play came in the bottom of the sixth when the center fielder made a diving catch to end the inning with a runner on second.
"That was huge," Dey said. "That was a huge play. All night, she came up big."
Tambke also had a diving catch with a runner on first and one out in the top of the first and an over-the-shoulder catch for the second out in the bottom of the eighth.
"(The defense) picked me up very well tonight," Schulte said. "I trust them whole-heartedly and I have all the faith that they will pull through behind me."
Despite knocking off Blue Springs - one of the stronger teams in the state - the Lady Jays know there is still work to be done.
Jefferson City will look to pick up its fifth straight win at noon Saturday when the Lady Jays travel to Ozark (27-3) for a Class 4 quarterfinal game.
"From tonight's game, I think it kind of shows our potential to beat anybody," Dey said. "I told the kids, "Enjoy the heck out of this one tonight. It's a great win - one of the better wins in my career, but we're not done. We're going on to the next game.'"
Added Schulte: "We have a lot going for us now since we beat (Blue Springs). We have a lot of adrenaline on our side, so I know if we keep believing and do our best, we can come out OVERSET FOLLOWS:on top."